1-855-514-9358Question: What happens if you don’t show up for bankruptcy court for a discharge hearing? If the trustee has been discharged, then how long will it take for an automatic discharge for the person who filed? And if the trustee is discharged and the debtor did not comply with all the provisions, what happens to the debtor, do they get an automatic discharge?
Failure to complete all of your duties in a bankruptcy will result in a discharge hearing before the bankruptcy court.
In a normal first bankruptcy if you have completed all of your duties and no-one objects, you are eligible to receive an automatic discharge at the end of nine months.
If you don’t complete your duties, the trustee is required to object to your discharge, and a discharge hearing is scheduled in bankruptcy court. At the discharge hearing the trustee will explain which duties have not been completed, and the Bankruptcy Registrar or Judge will determine the conditions of discharge.
For example, if you had surplus income during the bankruptcy and you did not make the required payments, the court will issue an order requiring you to make the payments.
If you do not appear in bankruptcy court, the court may simply issue a “No Order”, which means the trustee can now apply for their discharge, but you remain bankrupt. Because you were not discharged, your debts are not discharged (that’s the effect of a bankruptcy discharge).
If you were not discharged, you should contact your trustee and determine what duties remain to be completed, and then ask them to make an application to court to obtain your discharge.