The program has recommended bankruptcy legal services to twice as many clients this year as it did in all of 2024, she said.
Lakeville resident Margarita Del Real, 59, went through a bankruptcy this summer. Her husband, the primary breadwinner, had to stop working a few years ago because of a disability, and the loss of income coupled with medical bills topping $250,000 became impossible.
“It was a rough experience, I’ll tell you that,” Del Real said. “When you go from having two pretty decent incomes to one income, it’s mind-boggling what just creeps up on you.”
LegalShield, a legal subscription service that serves millions of customers nationwide, saw a 17% increase in bankruptcy-related inquiries in the third quarter and a 14% bump year over year, according to the company’s latest report.
“We’ve been seeing this stress over seven, eight, nine months, and unfortunately, I think folks have kind of come to the end of the avenues available to them, and they’re starting to think about bankruptcy harder,” said Matt Layton, LegalShield senior vice president of consumer analytics. “We see nothing in our data that would lead us to believe that there’s going to be any improvement or relief in the short-term.”