file0001755351339If you filed defalcation earlier, whether or not you can file bankruptcy again is a thing of timing, which Chapter you lot filed under (Chapter seven or Affiliate 13), and what Affiliate you are filing nether now.

Bankruptcy is a Tool for Your Misfortune

No doubt you are not happy that you need to exist thinking nigh bankruptcy again. We are really sorry that life has been so tough.

But when life does give you lot more than your share of tough breaks it IS practiced to know that the law gives you lot some other opportunity to get a fresh first.

The Timing Rules

You nigh certainly tin file another bankruptcy case if you filed another i earlier (or even more than than one) simply if enough time has passed since that earlier (or most contempo) case. How much time must pass mostly depends on whether your earlier case was a Affiliate seven "straight bankruptcy" or a Chapter 13 "adjustment of debts," and which of these you desire to file now.

If your earlier case was a Chapter 7 one:

  • to now file a Chapter 7 case y'all must wait 8 years afterward the earlier case
  • to at present file a Chapter 13 example yous must wait four years after the earlier case
  • OR you can file a Chapter 13 now, but not receive a belch of debts (this tin be a handy tool- se below, and your chaser can talk over this choice with you in more than detail)

If your earlier case was a Chapter 13 ane:

  • to now file a Chapter 7 case you must expect vi years after the earlier case (UNLESS in that before Chapter thirteen case you lot paid 100% of the allowed debts, or paid at least 70% and met another weather condition, when you don't have to wait)
  • to now file a Affiliate 13 example yous must expect 2 years after the before case

The Timing Triggers Are the Example Filing Dates

These 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-year fourth dimension periods are measured from the FILING date of your before case to the FILING date of your new case. That's crucial because that starts the clock earlier than it was instead tied to any of the subsequent events inside the case (such as the discharge—the legal write-off—of the debts, or the completion of the case). That's particularly of import if your before example was a Chapter 13 i because they can last a long fourth dimension after they are filed, as much equally five years (and sometimes fifty-fifty slightly longer).

Allow's brand this clearer with an example. If you now desire to file a Chapter vii case, and y'all had filed a Chapter 13 case on July ane, 2008, which was completed in 3 years, in July of 2011, then you can file a Affiliate 7 example any time after July 1, 2014, which is 6 years afterward the July ane, 2008 filing date. (When that earlier Chapter 13 case was completed is irrelevant.)

The Earlier Case Must Accept Resulted in a Discharge, or Else You Don't Have to Wait at All

These 2-, iv-, six-, and 8-year fourth dimension periods only utilise if your earlier defalcation instance resulted in the discharge of debts. Equally mentioned above, "discharge" is the legal write-off of debts in defalcation. So yous want to notice out if you lot got a belch in your earlier case to encounter if these fourth dimension periods impact the timing of your new example.

You nearly likely did become a discharge of your debts if you finished your case successfully. Very near the end of either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case y'all should take been mailed an order from the bankruptcy court stating that your debts were discharged. If yous have any dubiousness whether that happened in your case, tell your new attorney. He or she may be able to find out chop-chop, if those records are recent enough to be electronically stored at the defalcation court.

Be aware that people sometimes assume that an old bankruptcy instance finished successfully and resulted in a discharge, when in fact it didn't. So when you starting time considering a new bankruptcy instance, if the applicable time period has not still passed make certain that your attorney determines whether or not you really got a discharge. If you didn't, you can file your new example whenever you want.

If You Don't Demand a Belch in Your New Case, Y'all As well Don't Have to Wait at All

Assuming that you did become a discharge in your before bankruptcy case, the 2-, iv-, 6-, and 8-year time periods as well only apply if you intend to get a discharge of your debts in your new case. Otherwise, yous don't accept to await to file the new case.

Why would somebody file a bankruptcy instance if they don't demand a discharge of their debts—isn't that the main reason people file bankruptcy? Yep, in most defalcation cases that is why they are filed, to go relief from debts. Just in that location is the rare case, specially nether Affiliate 13, where the relief is not then much in discharging the debts as in paying them on the debtor's own schedule, and in protecting his or her assets from collections activity in the meantime.

For example, if yous are behind on your dwelling house payments and child support payments, filing Chapter 13 case earlier the applicable time period has expired will notwithstanding stop a foreclosure  and will stop the collection of the past-due back up payments. You would be able to catch up on your back mortgage and back up payments over the three-to-5-year class of your Chapter 13 instance. The purpose of this case would not be to go a belch of debts—these are debts you must pay to save your dwelling, and to foreclose aggressive drove by your ex-spouse or the support enforcement agency. Rather its purpose would be to protect your home and your paycheck/banking company account/other assets while you lot gradually paid these two creditors current, and did so based on your budget rather than upon their demands.

So if your applicable time menses has not still expired and you need relief, talk to your attorney about whether relief without a discharge would be helpful in your situation.