how long can bankruptcy case take before its resolved

That depends on which chapter of bankruptcy you're referring to and what you mean by "resolved". See http://www.bklaw.com/california_bankruptcy/bankruptcy_process.html for more details on how the process works for each chapter. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.