Timeline of Events in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Timeline:

1. You set an initial appointment with your bankruptcy attorney and make arrangements to be in the office at the appointed place and time to discuss whether a chapter 7 is the right solution for you.
2. Either at the initial consultation or later, you will retain your new chapter 7 lawyer and pay the agreed upon retainer fee and sign the retainer agreement.  At this time, you will receive a bankruptcy questionnaire which you will fill out completely.
3. At this point, you can refer creditors to your  new attorney.  Your  attorney will verify that you have retained their firm for the purpose of filing a Chapter 7. You should maintain a phone log of any creditors that contact you  in the event that the collection calls turn  into harassment calls and the creditor has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
4. Once you have retained your bankruptcy lawyer, you will complete the first of two classes. The first class is a credit counseling class which you can take online and which takes about 1 hour. It must be completed before your bankruptcy attorney can file your case. In the retainer packet that your bankruptcy attorney gave you, you will find the information on where and how to complete this requirement. The certificate that you receive from this credit counseling entity is good for 180 days.
5. As your Chapter 7 attorney processes your case, he will advise you of a list of lingering items that need to be produced in order to complete your case for filing.  Once your case has been processed by your bankruptcy attorney, and he has advised you that he is ready to file your case, you will have another visit at the bankruptcy attorney’s law office to review your petition and sign.
6. After your case is filed, you will receive a case number.  Soon thereafter, your bankruptcy attorney will provide you via email, the scheduled time of your creditors meeting, aka §341 meeting. This is the one court hearing you MUST attend as part of your case. You will also receive information from the Court as to who your assigned trustee is and where your court case will be heard.
7. Now that your case is filed and you have a case number, you need to complete the second financial education class. You cannot complete this class until after you have filed. In your retainer materials,  your bankruptcy attorney will have provided  instructions on where and how to complete this debtor education requirement which takes about two hours.
8. At your court hearing/ meeting of creditors (or 341 hearing), your bankruptcy lawyer will be present, you will swear to tell the truth, and then answer some simple questions pertaining to your individual case.
9. Approximately 60 days after the meeting of creditors/ 341 hearing, and after you have completed your debtor education class, you will receive your Chapter 7 discharge in the mail. This represents the end of your bankruptcy.
10. As soon as you have received the discharge in the mail, you will begin rebuilding your credit. Your bankruptcy attorney should provide you with instructions on how to do this.
11. If you receive contacts from creditors after the bankruptcy, do not fear and do not think that there was something wrong with your bankruptcy. An experience consumer advocate and bankruptcy attorney can deal with the creditor who failed to recognize your discharge. This is called a violation of the discharge order.  Your lawyer will provide you with a new retainer agreement to prosecute the creditor for a violation of the discharge order when appropriate.