About to make my last payment

[BKinNJ]

Have a few questions which I hope I can get answered, since our lawyer is practically no help.

Just to summarize -

My wife and I were on a 5 year $1500/month plan. As the title of my posts says I will be making my last payment for the month of June!!! It has been a long and hectic 5 years. But let me say we look at life so much different now and how we handle money. In a way this was a great lesson for the both us.

My first question is, do I stop paying after the 60th payment? I have been reading some posts where I had to keep paying until the trustee decides?

Since my Lawyer is very hard to get in touch with, will it be ok to contact the trustee directly to see if I need to keep paying?

Can anyone in NJ give a round about time frame on how long until I get a discharge?

Thank you in advance, we cannot wait to put all of this behind us.

[way2long]

I don't know what the protocol is everywhere, but my lawyer instructed me to contact the trustee's office with a question once and we have subsequently contacted them 3 or 4 more times as our plan nears the end. They have been very helpful.

[kornellred]

Although I list my state as "private", I am in New Jersey as well. I am finishing up my Chapter 13 in September. My trustee handbook states that the debtor should request a "payoff letter" in writing during the last few months of the plan, and this will prompt an audit of the case, and the trustee will contact you with the requirements for discharge. You must have filed a certificate of completion of the mandatory financial management course - nothing will happen unless you do.

Give the trustee's office a call and find out where you stand. Your attorney can't do anything for you at this point, unless there is some objection to your pending discharge.

[flowerchild]

Yea I have read many posts of people asking the same thing. It's just like Way2long and Kornellred have said, contact your trustee because they will know more than anybody. I think that if you have it payroll deducted that you can ask the trustee to send out the letter instructing your employer to stop making payments. Anything extra that the courts take they will refund it back to you.

[BKinNJ]

Thank you all, I decided to call the trustee this morning, she advised me that my case status is actually completed and all documents was mailed to me! I actually thought I had another payment due was about to send it out.
I am assuming she means my discharge papers?

[SiftedLikeWheat]

Thank you all, I decided to call the trustee this morning, she advised me that my case status is actually completed and all documents was mailed to me! I actually thought I had another payment due was about to send it out.
I am assuming she means my discharge papers?

In our case "completion" meant that plan payments were completed and the audit was begun. From receipt of our completion letter, our discharge arrived in about two months. I believe the completion letter will state when/if you do not have to make any more payments.

I am in PA. In our case, our attorney contacted us before the completion letter arrived and told us to discontinue payments, but this may differ in your district. At any rate, you are very close to the end now!

[BKinNJ]

Thank you for your input, trustee's office did tell me to stop all payments. My attorney does not contact me for anything. So the completion letter is just stating my plan base has been paid out? and what do you mean by the audit process?

[Mayo]

It took around 90 days for me to get my Discharge after final payment. Log into your pacer account and you can see which papers were filed. I found out about my discharge via Pacer a few days before getting it in the mail.

[LadyInTheRed]

and what do you mean by the audit process?

The trustee does an audit to make sure all creditors have been paid correctly and all checks were cashed and to determine whether any refund is due to the creditor.

[spidge]

Sounds like another successful plan. Good job.

[BKinNJ]

Thank you all for all the help and input. I get more info here than I do with my attorney's office.

I did receive the official completion letter from the trustee. They are in the process of filing a final report with the courts.

I also need to file 3 things in order to get discharged.

Certification in support of discharge
form B23
certification of financial mangement course.

Are these items that my attorney should be filing? I called their office and they state they have not received any letter from trustee.

SHould i just go down to the courthouse and file these myself? I want to speed up the process and my attorney is basically no help.

[LadyInTheRed]

Your attorney should prepare and file those for you. Send him a copy of the letter and ask that he let you know when the documents will be ready for signature. If you don't hear back in a couple of days, call and say you want to make an appointment to come sign the forms.

If worse comes to worce, you probably can file these yourself. But, you paid your attorney to make sure everything gets done correctly. Make sure he earns his fee.

[BKinNJ]

LadyInTheRed - Thank you. I finally got a hold of my attorney and they will be filing everything.

One more question - I noticed that she asked me for our employer address for the certification in support of discharge form. We were not in any wage order or automatic deducations, does this get sent to my employer anyways?

Thanks again

[LadyInTheRed]

Your employer's address if for the form, but I don't think anything will be sent to your employer if there is no wage order. Here's a copy of the form: http://www.newjerseybankruptcy.com/C...of%20disch.pdf

[ram180]

congrats on making it to the end my friend and best of luck in the future