Close to discharge in Montana. Does anyone know how long the process takes.

[cbmmom5]

Hello,

We have 6 months to go and then we will be finished. I was wondering if we had anyone discharge in Montana and what the process is like including time lines.

Thank you

[kornellred]

Hello cbmmom5 -

In order for a Chapter 13 debtor to receive a discharge of debts, the debtor will have made all payments as outlined in the Confirmation document, will have completed the mandatory financial management course, and will have signed the affidavit concerning Domestic Support Obligations (if any). Getting the financial management course out of the way long before finishing the payments is to the debtor's advantage.
When you have completed the payments, the trustee will inform you that your case is "closed" as far as trustee is concerned, and will inform you of the intent to audit your case for accuracy and file a final report with the BK Court. Once the Court has the final report and other evidence with respect to requirements, the Judge reviews the documents and grants the discharge.
The BK Court will wait a short period of time after the granting of the discharge before your case is officially Closed - typically one month. This is to allow time for any possible objections to the discharge by creditors, which rarely happens.

The amount of time that elapses between a debtor completing payments and discharge varies considerably from state to state. I am not certain, but I believe the law allows 120 days maximum. My own discharge was granted exactly 120 days after the receipt of my final payment. The BK Court officially closed my case exactly 30 days after the discharge. Many debtors have posted here claiming that their own discharges were realized much quicker than 120 days from their final payments. I do not know if there is a typical figure - there are too may variables that can occur in the meantime.

[klandsb]

thanks for the response kornellred. I think we all just chug along counting down till our payments end and think it will close immediately. Is it true any disbursements/activity are made only once a month by the trustee. Its seems that way to me.. In my case an initial disbursement to unsecured was made in July 2014 then another was made in Aug 2014, Oct 2014 , Nov 2014 and Dec 2014. Or maybe that is just the way my trustee handles his cases. It is good too know about the 120 day maximum , thanks for the info.

[cbmmom5]

Thank you for the response. It wa helpful information. Does anyone have specifics regarding Montana?