Not Eligible for a Discharge
I recently filed a bankruptcy for a Debtor in order to stop a foreclosure on her house. However, the Debtor filed a bankruptcy and received a discharge in a Chapter 7 in 2004, therefore; she is now not eligible for a discharge in her current bankruptcy. She just doesn’t understand why she cannot get another discharge at this time.
I explained to her that under the law a person is not entitled to receive multiple discharges any time they want. There is a waiting period between receiving a discharge depending on which chapter is filed. In her case, she has to wait 4 years between getting a discharge in a Chapter 7 and being eligible for a discharge in a Chapter 13. I explained to her that she needs to stay in her bankruptcy for a couple years and then we would be able to look at her situation and see what is best for her to do. It might be best for her to complete the bankruptcy and not receive a discharge if she has very little unsecured debt. It appears as if most of her debt was discharged in the previous bankruptcy, and she only has a couple thousand that would need to be discharged.
If she happens to incur new medical bills, or if she is unable to stay current on her house payments, it might be in her best interest to let her case get dismissed and refile a Chapter 7 once she is eligible to discharge all the unsecured debt. If she can’t wait to refile a case she might need to file a Chapter 13 and make minimal payments to the Trustee for 3 years. As I explained to her, it is going to all depend on what is going on in her case in a couple years.
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