Now say you filed your Chapter 7 case. Maybe you are making $50,000 per as a single person or $70,000 per year as a married couple but you just can’t afford to pay back your bills.
What do you expect next after your case is filed? You will be required to perform a second credit counseling course, online or on the phone, called a financial management course. About 30 days after the filing, you will be required to go to a hearing, called the meeting of creditors, where you will answer about 10 or 20 questions from a bankruptcy trustee who is assigned to your case. A bankruptcy trustee is not a judge, he or she is usually just a lawyer or an accountant approved by the court to oversee your case.
During the course of your case, you may also enter into reaffirmation agreements where a lending company like a car loan company and you agree that you may retain your car in exchange for an agreement to repay the debt. After about 3 and a half months from the filing, if all goes well, you will receive a paper from the court called a bankruptcy discharge of debts. This is usually the successful conclusion of your Chapter 7 case.