Will my chapter 7 bankruptcy cover my gambling debts?

Gambling debts are dischargeable. ?Trustees seldom have any interest in your debts, they are interested in your assets, the trustee can't get any money from your debts to pay her fees or distribute to the creditors, which is the trustee's job. A hold means that the trustee has one or more issues which have not been covered to her satisfaction, she wants more information and/or more documentation. ?An adjournment means that she feels she's got all the information and documentation that she needs to decide if there are any assets in your case.

Trustees and other people use these terms differently. You can consider the hold date an adjournment, but check with the Trustee a week or so before that date to see if s/he wants you present at a continued Meeting of Creditors. Gambling debts are generally dischargeable, so long as they do not arise from fraud. Good Luck. You don't need me to advise you that you need to get help for the gambling addiction, today.

It is so unfortunate that you were not properly educated about bankruptcy law and gambling debts before you went through the bother of filing chapter 7. The bankruptcy trustee has no authority to make any determination about whether or not your debts get discharged. So appealing to the trustee with your sad story is a waste of time. The law that covers whether debts are eligible to be discharged is 11 USC section 523. In the pertinent part of this law, it provides that debts related to crimes are not eligible to be discharged. No exceptions for your mental health issues. In Nevada, a gambling marker is the same as a check, and passing a check without sufficient funds is indeed a crime, a very serious crime depending on the amount involved. So not only are these gambling markers not able to be eliminated by the very terms of bankruptcy law, you face criminal prosecution and jail time if you fail to pay. Not having legal representation at a crucial moment is going to be very costly for you.

Yes, gambling debts can be discharged in a bankruptcy. As with all debts, you must have incurred your gambling debts in good faith, meaning you intended to pay them back. For instance, if you went to the casino on the day before you filed bankruptcy, and then racked up $100,000 in gambling losses, the court will probably rule that you never intended to pay them, and rule the debts non-dischargeable. But if you have been visiting casinos for a while and incurred these debts over time, they will be discharged. I wouldn't worry about these debts unless one of your creditors files an objection to discharge. As for why your meeting with the trustee lasted so long and why the trustee held over the meeting to a later date, I assume the trustee just has more questions for you, and didn't have enough time to ask them at the original meeting. Generally these meetings last about 10-15 minutes, and I'm sure there were other debtors waiting their turn.