The main purpose of bankruptcy laws is to give people hopelessly overburdened with debt a financial fresh start. Bankruptcy filings are public records. However, under normal circumstances, no one will know about the bankruptcy. Credit Bureaus will maintain a record of the bankruptcy and it will remain on the credit record for 10 years.
The most common reasons for bankruptcy filings are unemployment, large medical expenses; seriously overextended credit; marital problems, and other large unexpected expenses.