Bankruptcy documents are cumbersome and complicated. Then again, so are your finances if you are seriously considering filing bankruptcy. It is no wonder that, in the flurry of preparing and getting your bankruptcy attorney all the information to file your case there will be an inevitable omission or two or even three. The fact is that we are all human. Good thing the law often takes this into consideration.
This blog post is the short answer to the question, “What happens if I inadvertently leave off a creditor in my bankruptcy schedules?” Basically it works like this for the most part: The discharge applies to all dischargeable debt for which all creditors were given notice of the claims bar date, thereby giving an opportunity to file a proof of claim to secure their portion of whatever is liquidated in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. But, here is the kicker and it comes from case law from the various districts (so check the court decisions that pertain to your specific case): in a case where there is nothing to distribute to creditors–often called a zero-assets or no-assets case– there is no deadline set to file a proof of claim and therefore no chance for the creditors to get anything. Because they are not disadvantaged in any way by having been omitted they are not excepted from the discharge. Basically it is no harm no foul proposition.
In cases where debtors have attempted to re-open their case in order to add an omitted creditor to get them under the discharge injunction, courts have, from what I can tell, consistently said “no” because it would not benefit the debtor any more because the creditors are discharged already despite being omitted in a no-assets case. For more information or a free bankruptcy consultation, call the Oklahoma bankruptcy lawyers at the Debt Line Law Office at (405) 563-7888.
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