To get copies of your Chapter 7 discharge papers, you have four routes: download the order from PACER (the federal courts’ electronic records system) for no more than $3 and often free, request a copy from the clerk at the bankruptcy court where you filed, ask the attorney who handled your case, or order archived records from the National Archives if the case is old enough to have been sent to storage. Which one fits best depends on the age of your case and whether a plain copy will do or you need a certified one.
What to Have Ready Before You Request
Every method below works better when you can hand over a few basics:
- Your full legal name as it appeared on the bankruptcy petition.
- Your bankruptcy case number.
- The court district where you filed, for example the Northern District of Illinois or the Central District of California.
Don’t remember the case number? You can search by name on PACER, or call the Multi-Court Voice Case Information System at 1-866-222-8029. The automated line runs around the clock and lets you search by name, Social Security number, or case number across participating bankruptcy courts.1Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Phone Access to Court Records Not every court participates, so if yours isn’t in the system, call the clerk’s office directly.
Getting Your Discharge Order from PACER
PACER is the cheapest and fastest option for most people. It provides online access to virtually all federal court records, bankruptcy dockets and discharge orders included.2United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER)
Opening an Account
Registration at pacer.uscourts.gov is free. Providing a credit card during signup activates the account immediately. If you’d rather not enter card details, PACER mails an activation token to your address within 7 to 10 business days.3Public Access to Court Electronic Records. How Can I Activate My PACER Account?
Finding the Order
Once you’re logged in, search by name, case number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number. Open the case docket, which lists every document filed, and scroll to find the discharge order. It’s usually one of the last entries. Click to download the PDF.
What It Costs
PACER charges $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 per document. A discharge order runs a page or two. And if your total PACER charges stay at $30 or less in a calendar quarter, the fees are waived.4Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER Pricing: How Fees Work About 75 percent of PACER users pay nothing in any given quarter, so pulling a single discharge order will almost certainly cost you nothing.5Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Public Access to Court Electronic Records
Requesting a Copy from the Bankruptcy Court Clerk
If you’d rather not use PACER, the clerk’s office at the court where you filed can provide copies. Two ways to do it.
In Person
Bring your case number, or enough identifying information for staff to locate the file. Paper copies cost $0.50 per page.6United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Most clerks accept cash, money orders, and cashier’s checks. Some take debit or credit cards. Call ahead to confirm.
By Mail
Send a written request listing your full name, case number, and the specific document you want (the discharge order). Include a self-addressed stamped envelope and a check or money order for the copy fee. Contact the court beforehand to confirm the mailing address and exact amount so your request doesn’t sit waiting.
When You Need a Certified or Exemplified Copy
A plain copy from PACER or the clerk is enough for a mortgage lender, a credit dispute, or your own records. Certain court proceedings require more.
A certified copy comes with the clerk’s written statement that the document is a true copy of the court’s record. The federal certification fee is $12 on top of the per-page charge. An exemplified copy adds a judge’s confirmation that the clerk had authority to certify, and costs $24.6United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Exemplified copies come into play mainly when enforcing a judgment or court order in a different jurisdiction. Unless someone asks for certification or exemplification by name, a regular copy will do.
Asking Your Former Bankruptcy Attorney
The attorney who handled your case almost certainly kept a copy of the discharge order. A phone call or email is often all it takes, and many attorneys hand over a copy at no charge. Some charge a small administrative fee.
One caveat: there is no universal rule for how long attorneys have to keep closed case files. Retention practices vary, and enough years on, the file may have been destroyed or the attorney may have retired. If the firm can’t help, PACER and the court clerk are still there regardless of the case’s age.
Older Cases Sent to the National Archives
Bankruptcy courts eventually transfer closed case files to Federal Records Centers run by the National Archives and Records Administration. This happens after a number of years, with the timeline varying by court.
If your case has been archived, you have two options. You can still request that the court retrieve the file from storage. Pulling one box of records from a Federal Records Center costs $70, with each additional box at $43. An electronic retrieval costs $11 plus whatever the storage facility charges.6United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
You can also order directly from NARA. The National Archives accepts orders online, by mail, fax, or email. To order online, go to the order reproductions page, select “Court Records,” then choose “Bankruptcy” as the court type.7National Archives. New Access Procedures for Court Records at National Archives Federal Records Center NARA does not offer in-person review of these files, so don’t plan on visiting a records center to look through them.
Before paying any retrieval fee, try PACER. Even for older cases, the docket and key documents like the discharge order are often still available online at $0.10 per page, which beats a physical retrieval by a wide margin.
If a Creditor Won’t Honor the Discharge
The discharge order is more than paperwork. Under federal law it functions as a court injunction that permanently bars creditors from acting to collect discharged debts.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge If a creditor calls, sends letters, sues, or tries to garnish wages on a debt that was discharged, that creditor is violating a federal court order.
The first step is to send the creditor a copy of your discharge order along with a written demand to stop all collection activity. If the creditor keeps going, you can reopen the bankruptcy case and ask the court to hold the creditor in contempt. Courts can impose sanctions when a creditor violates the discharge injunction without any objectively reasonable basis for believing the debt was still owed. That is the most practical reason to keep the discharge papers where you can find them.