What are the Chances My Debts will not be Forgiven/ Discharged?

With a properly filed case, debts are usually discharged without issue and objections to discharge are usually rare. In general, the two ways that discharge issues can come up include (1) the United States Trustee (UST) possibly objecting to your discharge and/ or (2) a certain creditor objecting to a discharge of its particular debt.

An objection to discharge filed by the UST:

An objection to discharge action filed by the UST is pretty uncommon but you might run into this issue if you purposefully hide or transfer assets in an effort to hide the assets; or are not truthful in your bankruptcy case (providing false information in the bankruptcy paperwork or lying to the bankruptcy trustee/ judge). Hiding or transferring assets prior to filing can lead to discharge and exemption issues so you will need to discuss all transfers made in the 2 years prior to Bankruptcy with your attorney so we can discuss your options. You can find more information on exemptions HERE. As for proving false information, since the bankruptcy paperwork is filed under the penalty of perjury, we work closely with our clients and thoroughly review the paperwork together to make sure the bankruptcy paperwork is as accurate and perfect as possible before filing to avoid these types of issues. In order for us to help you, you need to be 100% honest and forthcoming with our office and provide us with full disclosure. As long as you provide full and accurate information to our office and to the court, you should not have an issue.  

A more likely issue with the UST might occur if your income is above median income. In that situation, the UST might file a motion to dismiss your case for abuse (which just basically means you make too much money to stay in 7). Your options might be to (1) litigate; (2) convert to a chapter 13; or (3) allow the case to be dismissed. If this is an issue in your case, your attorney would discuss these and other options with you at great length.

An objection to debt discharge filed by a creditor:

A certain creditor objecting to a discharge of its particular debt is pretty rare but does occur from time to time. A creditor might object to a discharge of its particular debt when fraud occurs before the bankruptcy case. For example, obtaining a debt by wrongful/ fraudulent means or making large charges on a credit card within 90 days of filing for bankruptcy. A former spouse might also object to a debt being discharged if the debt involves a domestic support obligation issue (this is complicated and we would discuss this with you at great length). If a creditor were to file an objection to a discharge of its debts, your options might be to (1) litigate; (2) convert to a chapter 13; or (3) settle.

If a discharge issue were to come up in your case, your attorney would discuss all of the options with you at great length.

Some debts are automatically not dischargeable such as taxes (with some exceptions for income taxes with tax returns that are older than 3 years), student loans and family court obligations but your attorney can discuss these with you.