QUESTION
How long does it take to complete for a discharge on a reopened chapter 7 bankruptcy
Asked on May 05th, 2012 on Bankruptcy - Louisiana
More details to this question:
In July 07 I joined a lawsuit against a pharm. company. Approximately 6 mos later I recieved a call that they could not help me and would send it to another firm to see if they could help. In Sept 08 I filed for bankruptcy Chap 7 and was discharged in Mar 09. When first filling I informed my lawyer about the filing but since I didn''t know if I would be getting anything he decided not to include it. At that point it had been a year since I heard anything. In Aug of 2011 I found out I would be recieving $100,000 from the mass torte claim. before the attorney fees . I called my lawyer & trustee and told him of the monies I was to get. my trustee sent in to recieve all the money. In Jan. 12 he filed a motion to pay the lawsuit attorneys & reopen my bankruptcy. In Apr 12 my creditors I owed had to have thier claims to be paid in by April 15. My bankruptcy was filed for $21000. in 08 so there is still about $35000. left Do I get paid when the creditors get paid?
1 ANSWER
Bankruptcy Attorney serving Burbank, CA
Partner at
Law Office of Mark J. Markus
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You should get paid any surplus after all creditors have been paid, and the Trustee has been paid his/her fees/costs. It can take quite some time to get to that point, as the Trustee has to hire accountants to deal with all the bookkeeping and tax return preparation, and then get court approval for the disbursements, etc. If the bar date for claims was just last month as you indicate, you still have quite a ways to go before you get your "refund". It can take at least a year or two to administer and close a Chapter 7 case after all assets have been liquidated.
You might want to have your attorney contact the trustee to see if he/she can release some portion of what they estimate you will be entitled to after all costs and fees of the estate have been paid, but there's no guarantee they will agree to do that.
Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law
Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991.
http://www.bklaw.com/
bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/
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Answered on May 11th, 2012 at 3:05 PM