A Chapter 7 discharge letter is the one-page federal court order, issued on Official Form 318, that permanently eliminates your personal liability for the debts wiped out by your bankruptcy. The court mails it to you and every creditor roughly 60 to 90 days after your 341 meeting of creditors, and it functions as a court injunction that bars anyone from ever trying to collect those debts again.1United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics The document itself is short. What it does is not.
What the Letter Looks Like and Says
The order follows a standardized federal format used in every bankruptcy court. The top of the page identifies the U.S. Bankruptcy Court district where you filed, your full legal name, any aliases or business names you used in the eight years before filing, and your case number.2United States Courts. Official Form 318 Order of Discharge
The operative language is a single sentence: “A discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 727 is granted to [your name].” That is the entire ruling. The legal weight sits in the statute the sentence references, not in the words of the order.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge The bankruptcy judge signs at the bottom, and the court’s seal authenticates it.
A second page, titled “Explanation of Bankruptcy Discharge in a Chapter 7 Case,” translates what the order does in plain terms. The explanation covers four main points:
- Collection on discharged debts is prohibited. No one can sue you, garnish your wages, assert a deficiency, or contact you by mail or phone to collect. Creditors who violate the order can be ordered to pay you damages and attorney’s fees.2United States Courts. Official Form 318 Order of Discharge
- Liens survive unless separately removed. A mortgage, car loan, or other secured creditor can still enforce its lien on the collateral even though your personal obligation is gone. Removing the lien itself requires a separate motion.
- Voluntary payments remain allowed. Nothing prevents you from choosing to repay a discharged debt, and any reaffirmed debt stays enforceable under the reaffirmation agreement.
- Co-signers are not protected. The discharge covers you alone. A co-signer or guarantor on any of your debts remains fully liable.
When It Arrives and Who Gets It
The court grants the discharge once the deadline passes for anyone to object. That deadline is 60 days after the first date set for your 341 meeting of creditors. Most people receive the order between 60 and 90 days after that meeting, assuming no one files a complaint objecting to the discharge and no motion to dismiss is pending.1United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics
The clerk’s office mails a copy to you, every creditor listed in your petition, the U.S. trustee, and the case trustee. If you had an attorney, they also receive an electronic copy through the court’s filing system.
One point surprises people: the discharge is not the same as case closure. The order itself states it “does not close or dismiss the case, and it does not determine how much money, if any, the trustee will pay creditors.”2United States Courts. Official Form 318 Order of Discharge In a straightforward no-asset case, the case often closes within days of the discharge. If the trustee is still liquidating assets or distributing payments, the case stays open until that work finishes and a final decree is entered.
What the Discharge Actually Covers
The order eliminates most unsecured debt: credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, old utility bills, deficiency balances after repossession, and the like. Federal law in 11 U.S.C. § 523 carves out specific categories that survive the discharge. The ones that catch people most often:
- Domestic support obligations. Child support and alimony survive in full.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
- Most tax debts. Taxes from returns due within the last three years, taxes assessed within 240 days of filing, and taxes tied to fraudulent returns or willful evasion all remain collectible.
- Student loans, unless you file a separate adversary proceeding and prove undue hardship. Most courts apply the Brunner test, which sets a high bar.
- Debts obtained by fraud or misrepresentation. There is a built-in presumption against discharge for luxury goods purchases of more than $900 from a single creditor within 90 days of filing, and for cash advances totaling more than $1,250 within 70 days of filing.5Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
- Debts for death or personal injury caused while driving under the influence.
- Debts for willful and malicious injury to another person or their property.
Everything else in your petition that fits within Section 727 is gone as a personal obligation the moment the judge signs the order.
Reaffirmed Debts
If you signed a reaffirmation agreement before the discharge was entered, that specific debt is excluded from the discharge and remains fully enforceable. People reaffirm most often to keep a car or other secured property. A reaffirmation agreement is only binding if it was filed with the court before discharge, included the required disclosures, and either carried your attorney’s certification of voluntariness and no undue hardship or received direct court approval if you were unrepresented.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge You could cancel the agreement in writing at any time before discharge or within 60 days after it was filed, whichever came later.
If you reaffirmed and later fall behind, the creditor can sue, garnish, and send you to collections as if the bankruptcy never happened on that debt. The rest of your discharge is unaffected.
Getting a Copy of Your Discharge Letter
Keep this document indefinitely. You may need it when applying for a mortgage years later, dealing with a creditor who missed the notice, or correcting a credit report error.
PACER
The fastest option is downloading it through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system at pacer.uscourts.gov. PACER charges $0.10 per page with a $3.00 cap per document.7Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER Pricing: How Fees Work You will need a free account and your case number.
Your Attorney
If you filed through a bankruptcy attorney, they received the order electronically when the court entered it. Most will send you a copy at no additional charge.
The Clerk’s Office
You can also contact the bankruptcy clerk’s office for the district where you filed. Fees as of the current miscellaneous fee schedule:8United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
- Record search: $34 per name or item
- Certified copy: $12 per document
- Exemplification: $24 per document
A certified copy carries the clerk’s official attestation and is what mortgage lenders and other institutions typically require. A plain PACER printout is fine for informal use but will not satisfy a lender asking for proof of discharge.
Using the Letter When a Creditor Won’t Stop
The discharge is a federal court injunction, backed by the court’s contempt power.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge A creditor who calls, sends a bill, or files a lawsuit on a discharged debt is violating it.
Start with a letter. Send the creditor a copy of your discharge order by certified mail with return receipt requested. Identify the debt, state that it was discharged in your bankruptcy case, and ask them to stop all collection activity. Keep the green return receipt as proof of delivery. Most creditors stop immediately once they see the order.
If they keep going, the court can hold them in contempt. Courts have awarded actual damages like lost wages and travel costs, attorney’s fees, and in some cases emotional distress damages where the debtor can show a direct link between the creditor’s conduct and the harm. Save every letter, log every call, and keep your certified mail receipts. You will need that record if you have to go back to the bankruptcy court.
Fixing Credit Report Errors
Every debt listed in your petition should appear on your credit reports with a zero balance and a notation that it was discharged in bankruptcy. “In collections,” “charge-off,” or any remaining balance is wrong for a discharged account. The bankruptcy filing itself can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years from the date of the order for relief.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Pull your reports from all three major bureaus and compare each trade line against your bankruptcy petition. For any account showing an incorrect status, send a written dispute to the bureau by certified mail. Include a copy of your discharge order and the page from your petition listing the debt. Avoid online disputes. The written certified-mail paper trail is what you will need if the bureau fails to correct the error within the 30 to 45 days the law allows.
When a Discharge Can Be Revoked
The order is meant to be permanent, but the court can revoke it in narrow circumstances. The trustee, a creditor, or the U.S. trustee can ask the court to revoke the discharge if it was obtained through fraud discovered only after the fact, if you acquired estate property and knowingly failed to report or turn it over, or if you refused to cooperate with a court-ordered audit.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge
The deadline for a fraud-based revocation request is one year after discharge. For hidden assets or audit failures, the deadline is the later of one year after discharge or the date the case closes. Revocations are rare. They happen when a debtor hides something material from the court, which is why full honesty throughout the case is what makes the discharge stick.