Would you be on creditors’ committee of a bankrupted family member?

Have you been on a creditors’ committee?

What was it like?

Did you bring an attorney with you?

Our attorney said that there is no reason why I should not be on the creditors’ committee. And he doesn’t need to be there. All I need to do is to file all the documents that he has OK’d and vote. I worry that the other creditors will walk all over me.

My brother in law has gone bankrupt after losing a $20 million suit. Up for grabs is a horse ranch, 2 apartment buildings and 2 bowling allies (all mortgaged to the hilt). He also owes a lot of people a lot of money. We have documentation proving that he owes us over $482K.

When we loaned the money, I told my wife not to expect to get any of it back. But now the situation has dramatically changed. If I’m not on the creditors’ committee then whatever money is recovered will just go to other creditors. So I might as well grab a piece of the pie. Yet I feel kind of like a vulture picking over the bones of my brother in law’s life.

I have no bad feelings for my brother in law and I worry about his mental health. He now is 68 years old and broke. He has a lot of pride and it wouldn’t surprise me it he does himself in. He’s a good guy that made risky choices and had a lot of bad luck.