Discharge Calendar: Chapter 7 and 13 Timelines and Deadlines

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge typically arrives four to six months after you file. A Chapter 13 discharge takes three to five years, because it comes only after you finish every payment in your court-approved repayment plan. The Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 discharge timeline is driven by a handful of federal deadlines that run in the background of your case, and missing any one of them can push the discharge back or block it entirely.

Chapter 7: Four to Six Months From Filing

Most Chapter 7 cases move from petition to discharge in four to six months. Asset-heavy cases can stay open longer while the trustee liquidates property, but the discharge itself follows a predictable sequence tied to one central date.

The 341 Meeting Sets the Clock

Between 21 and 40 days after you file, the court schedules a meeting of creditors, commonly called the 341 meeting. The trustee assigned to your case leads this hearing and questions you under oath about your finances, property, and recent transactions.¹

The first date set for this meeting anchors nearly every other Chapter 7 deadline. The creditor objection window, the financial management certificate deadline, and any reaffirmation agreement deadline all count forward from that date. If you remember one date in your case, it is this one.

The 60-Day Objection Window

Creditors and the trustee have 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting to file a complaint objecting to your discharge.² An objection is filed as an adversary proceeding, essentially a lawsuit inside your bankruptcy case, and the court cannot enter a discharge while one is pending. Grounds for denial include hiding or destroying assets, falsifying financial records, making false statements under oath, failing to explain missing assets, and disobeying a court order.³

Once the 60 days pass with nothing filed, the case moves toward closure.

When the Discharge Order Arrives

The discharge can be entered as early as 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting, provided no objections are pending and you have filed your financial management certificate. In no-asset cases, the discharge order and the final decree closing the case often arrive within days of each other.

Chapter 13: Discharge Comes After the Plan

Chapter 13 is a marathon. You propose a repayment plan, make monthly payments to the trustee, and receive your discharge only after you complete every scheduled payment.

Plan Length: Three or Five Years

Your household income sets the duration. If you earn less than the median income in your state, you qualify for a three-year plan. If you earn above the median, the plan runs five years. Five years is the absolute maximum.⁴

Missing a single payment can jeopardize the whole case. The trustee or a creditor can move to dismiss, and if the court agrees you lose the automatic stay and the chance at discharge. Some courts will allow a plan modification instead, which may extend the overall timeline.

Requirements at the Finish Line

The court grants a Chapter 13 discharge after you complete all plan payments, certify that any domestic support obligations such as child support or alimony are current, and file your financial management course certificate. If you owe domestic support and cannot certify it is paid up, the court will not sign the discharge order.⁴

A hardship discharge exists for rare situations where circumstances beyond your control prevent you from finishing payments, plan modification is not feasible, and creditors have already received at least what they would have gotten in a Chapter 7 liquidation. Courts do not grant these lightly.⁴

Deadlines You Have to Meet Yourself

The trustee runs the 341 meeting and the court tracks the objection window, but two deadlines belong entirely to you. Missing either is one of the most common ways people sabotage their own discharge.

The Financial Management Course

After filing, you must complete a personal financial management course. This is separate from the pre-filing credit counseling briefing and is not optional.

In a Chapter 7 case, file the certificate of completion (Official Form 423) within 60 days of the first date set for the 341 meeting.⁵ In a Chapter 13 case, the deadline is the date you make your last plan payment or file a motion for discharge.

Miss the Chapter 7 deadline and the court closes your case without entering a discharge. You went through the whole process for nothing. Reopening to file a late certificate requires a motion and a $245 filing fee in Chapter 7, or $235 in Chapter 13.⁶

Reaffirmation Agreements

If you want to keep a financed car or other secured property through a Chapter 7 case, you may need to sign a reaffirmation agreement, a new contract that keeps you personally liable on that specific debt despite the discharge. The agreement must be filed with the court within 60 days of the first date set for the 341 meeting.⁷

Once you sign, you can rescind at any time before the later of two dates: 60 days after filing the agreement, or the date the court enters your discharge. After both dates pass, you are locked in.⁷

Before You File: The Credit Counseling Briefing

You cannot file a bankruptcy petition at all until you complete a credit counseling briefing from an approved nonprofit agency, and the briefing must occur within 180 days before your filing date. If your certificate is older than 180 days, the court will dismiss the case.⁸

A narrow emergency exception exists. If you can show exigent circumstances and that you tried to get counseling but could not within seven days, the court may let you file first and complete the briefing within 30 days, with a possible 15-day extension for cause. The only permanent exemptions are for people who are incapacitated, physically disabled, or on active military duty in a combat zone.⁸

These courses typically cost between $10 and $50. Agencies must offer free or reduced-rate sessions if your income falls below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, and telephone or internet sessions count.

Debts the Discharge Will Not Erase

Reaching the end of the discharge calendar does not eliminate every debt. Federal law carves out categories that survive even a successful discharge:

Domestic support obligations, including child support and alimony
Recent income taxes, taxes where no return was filed, and taxes connected to fraud
Debts obtained through fraud or false statements, if a creditor proves it
Debts arising from willful and malicious injury to a person or property
Student loans, unless you prove undue hardship in a separate adversary proceeding
Debts from embezzlement, larceny, or misuse of entrusted funds
Criminal fines and most government penalties
Debts owed to creditors you failed to list, if that creditor did not learn of the case in time to file a claim

These exceptions apply broadly in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases, though a Chapter 13 discharge historically eliminated a few extra debt types that Chapter 7 could not.⁹

If You Have Filed Before: Waiting Periods

Federal law imposes mandatory waiting periods before you can receive a second discharge. They run from the filing date of the earlier case to the filing date of the new one.

Chapter 7 after a prior Chapter 7: eight years between filing dates.³
Chapter 13 after a prior Chapter 7: four years.⁴
Chapter 13 after a prior Chapter 13: two years.⁴
Chapter 7 after a prior Chapter 13: six years, unless you paid unsecured creditors in full or paid at least 70 percent under a plan proposed in good faith.³

You can technically file a new case before these periods expire, but the court will deny the discharge.

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 2003 – Meeting of Creditors or Equity Security Holders
2
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4004 – Grant or Denial of Discharge
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
5
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1007 – Lists, Schedules, Statements, and Other Documents; Time to File
6
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
7
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4008 – Reaffirmation Agreement and Supporting Statement
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge