How Long Before I Recieve My Bankruptcy Discharge Papers?

Most bankruptcy experts indicate that, under normal circumstances, an individual who files for bankruptcy can expect to receive his or her discharge papers within 90 days, or three months, upon receipt of notification that the bankruptcy was successfully discharged. According to others, a timeline of 120 days, or four months, is slightly more realistic. However, in any case involving bankruptcy, there is always a chance that some type of task may prove difficult to complete and thus result in a delay of the issuance of the discharge order.

Any delay will require some type of notification to inform the filer that the bankruptcy would be reopened. In some cases, the workload from an overwhelming number of bankruptcy filings that the court has to handle at any given time may contribute to a delay when it comes time to issue the final closing paperwork. Likewise, there are also several actions that must occur to the court’s satisfaction in order for the trustee to agree to discharge the bankruptcy.

The court must prepare for numerous tasks before issuing a discharge, including noting what debt will remain viable after the discharge, what debt is being wiped out, any challenges that the creditors make to the trustee’s decisions on the credit liability of the debtor, any credit classes that the debtor must take prior to discharge, the conversation involving the listing of liabilities and assets by the debtor while he or she is under oath and the fact finding meeting. Each of these items are all tasks that require work in order to document these activities and come to a decision before finalizing said decision.

The “fact finding meeting,” or “341,” will typically provide the trustee with what is necessary to complete the paperwork and issue a discharge notice. However, some experts say that the real work comes after the meeting due to the documenting needed and the decision-making tasks necessary to determine the final outcome of the bankruptcy filing. Each separate piece of documentation must be reviewed and prepared before it is sent to a judge for review, updates, feedback and final approval. Creditors will also have a limited amount of time to challenge these decisions, typically about 60 days from the date of issuance.

Any inconsistencies, appeals or activities that appear to be rare that come to the attention of the court will need to be reviewed prior to closing a bankruptcy, so the debtor must keep in mind that anything out of the ordinary that results in additional time and tasks will delay the discharging and sending of the required bankruptcy paperwork.