While filing bankruptcy with an experienced personal bankruptcy lawyer will provide a much needed break from the stress of dealing with creditors calling and fighting repossession or foreclosure, it is not the end relief of which you are seeking. People file bankruptcy most often file bankruptcy to have their debts discharged or erased. A Discharge Order is the court order that is given to a person once they have completed their bankruptcy. For a chapter 13 bankruptcy filing it will take between three and five years to receive your discharge unless you pay-off early. In order to be discharged prior to being in your Chapter 13 case for 36 months you must pay back 100% of your debt. Once a person has been in a case for more than 36 months they will be able to pay-off at their confirmed plan base. A plan base is composed of a person's secured debt that is being paid through the plan, unsecured priority debt such as IRS debt, the amount of funds allocated to general unsecured creditor's pool (based on your income for the six months prior to filing), Trustee's fees, and your bankruptcy attorney's fees.

Most all debts included in your bankruptcy are discharged, but some such as federal student loans are not. One thing that surprises most people is that some IRS debt is dischargeable. There are some debts that are included in your bankruptcy that you may not want to be discharged like your mortgage. A discharged mortgage note would mean that your home loan would cease to exist on paper. The continuation of the original agreement would be strictly voluntarily after the debt has been discharged. The mortgage company will be unable to verify that payments have been received, provide annual statements, or notify you of a delinquency. Additionally you will be unable to ever refinance your home. In order to avoid these situations secured creditors generally provided documents called reaffirmation agreements that when signed creates an agreement that you will continue to abide by the original terms of the contract despite the discharge. It is extremely important to discuss with your bankruptcy lawyer which debts would be in your best interest to reaffirm.

Upon receiving your Discharge Order you should make a copy for your records and use it to dispute inaccurate listings of debt on your credit report. It is recommended that you pull your credit report 90 days after receiving your discharge to verify that all items are listed properly. Generally all debts that were incurred prior to filing should be listed as discharged. Inaccurate entries should be disputed and copy of your Discharge Order along with copies of your schedules D, E, and F should be submitted to the credit bureaus and to creditor in question for each item on your credit report that you feel is incorrect. If you have lost, never received, or failed to maintain copies of your Discharge Order and bankruptcy schedules, then contact your bankruptcy attorney and obtain copies.

Another common situation that arises after discharge is an individual will be contacted by a forgotten creditor that was not included in the bankruptcy. The 9th Circuit court ruled in Beezley v. California Land Title Co. that, in a no-asset Chapter 7 liquidation, all debts incurred prior to the filing are discharged so long as the debt in question would have been entitled to discharge had it been included.

If you're looking for more information or to speak with a bankruptcy attorney check out www.bankruptcyhome.com