What Is My Bankruptcy Discharge Date?
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A bankruptcy discharge date marks the end of your bankruptcy case. It happens when a judge signs the order erasing your responsibility to repay certain debts, like credit card bills or medical expenses. This date is listed on the discharge order, which the court will mail to you. Chapter 7 cases usually take 3–6 months, while Chapter 13 cases require completing a 3–5-year repayment plan before you can receive your discharge. Completing required steps, like the debtor education course, ensures there are no delays.
Written by Attorney Andrea Wimmer. Legally reviewed by Jonathan Petts
Updated February 17, 2026
What Is the Bankruptcy Discharge?
A bankruptcy discharge is the most important outcome of filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It’s a court order that permanently erases your responsibility to pay back certain types of debt, including credit card bills, medical debt, past-due utility bills, and some loans.
Once you receive a discharge, creditors can’t take any action to collect those debts, like calling, sending letters, or filing lawsuits against you.
That said, not all debts can be discharged in bankruptcy. For example, child support, many student loans, and recent tax debts usually can’t be eliminated. However, most unsecured debts, like credit card balances, medical bills, and personal loans, are dischargeable.
How Do I Find My Discharge Date?
The discharge date is the date that the bankruptcy judge signs the discharge order for your case.
The bankruptcy court will mail you a copy of the order after the judge signs it. The discharge date is next to the judge’s signature on the discharge.
Even though your creditors are also notified of your discharge, keep a copy of the discharge order close by in case a creditor contacts you. They will want to know the date of your discharge and your bankruptcy case number. Read more on this below in the section titled “What if Creditors Still Contact Me After My Discharge Date?”
If you filed on your own, you can sign up to receive notices electronically and access your discharge document online through the PACER platform.
What Is PACER?
PACER stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. It’s a service that provides electronic public access to federal court records.
PACER provides access to any document filed in a federal court. Every document filed in your bankruptcy case, including your discharge order with your discharge date, is available through PACER.
You can download a PDF of any document for a small fee — 10 cents per page with a cap of $3.00 for any document.
What Is a Bankruptcy Discharge Letter?
A bankruptcy discharge letter is another name people use for the discharge order. It isn’t a separate document. It’s the official court order signed by the judge that says your eligible debts have been wiped out.
After the judge signs the discharge order, the bankruptcy court mails you a copy. Many people refer to this mailed document as their “bankruptcy discharge letter.”
If you need proof that your debts were discharged — for example, to show a creditor — this is the document you’ll use. It includes your case number, the court where you filed, and the date your discharge was entered.
You can also download a copy through PACER if you don’t have the one the court mailed to you.
How Long Does It Take To Get a Bankruptcy Discharge?
When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it typically takes 3–6 months to get your debts discharged. This estimate starts from the day you file your bankruptcy petition and depends on how quickly you complete required steps and whether you experience any complications in your case.
If you complete your required courses promptly and no objections or delays occur, you can expect your discharge closer to the three-month mark.
If you have complications — such as creditors filing objections or the court requiring additional information — your discharge might take longer. However, these situations aren’t common.
Here’s a simplified timeline*:
Day 0: File your bankruptcy petition
Day 30–45: 341 meeting of creditors
Day 90–105: Objection period ends
Day 95–115: Court issues discharge order
Let’s break down the key steps and their associated timelines so you can better understand how long the process will take.
*Note that these timelines are general guidelines.
Pre-Bankruptcy Credit Counseling
Before filing your bankruptcy case, you must complete a pre-bankruptcy credit counseling course. This course generally takes around 1–2 hours and can often be completed online or by phone. Once you finish, you’ll receive a certificate that must be filed with your bankruptcy paperwork.
While this step doesn’t add significant time to your case, it’s essential to do it before filing, as the court won’t accept your petition without the completion certificate.
After Filing: Complete the Post-Filing Debtor Education Course
After you file your bankruptcy petition, you must also complete a post-filing debtor education course. This is separate from the pre-bankruptcy counseling and usually takes about two hours to finish.
It can be completed at any time after your case is filed but must be done before the court will issue your discharge order. Most people choose to take this course as soon as possible to avoid delaying their case.
Only providers approved by the U.S. Trustee Program (or state administrators in Alabama and North Carolina) can issue valid certificates for these courses. You’ll need to submit your completion certificate to the court as proof.
The 341 Meeting of Creditors
About 30–45 days after you file, the bankruptcy trustee assigned to your case will hold a meeting of creditors, also called a 341 meeting. This is a required step, and you must attend this meeting for your case to proceed. While creditors are invited to attend, they rarely do in consumer bankruptcy cases. The trustee will review your paperwork and ask questions to confirm your eligibility and the accuracy of your bankruptcy documents. This meeting usually takes no more than 15 minutes.
If everything checks out, the trustee will conclude the meeting, and the clock starts ticking on a 60-day waiting period. During this time, the trustee or any of your creditors can file objections to your discharge. If no objections are filed — and they rarely are in straightforward consumer bankruptcy cases — you’ll be eligible for a discharge as soon as the 60 days are up.
Once the 60-day objection period ends, the court can process and issue your discharge order. This typically takes a few days to one week. However, processing times can vary slightly depending on how busy the court is.
What Can Delay a Bankruptcy Discharge?
There are a few common reasons discharges get delayed, including:
Failing to complete the required debtor education course after filing for bankruptcy
Awaiting a reaffirmation hearing
Creditors objecting to the discharge
If you don't complete the second required bankruptcy course and submit a certificate of completion to the court, the court won’t issue your discharge. This is one of the most common reasons having a discharged delayed or a case dismissed.
Reaffirming a debt can also slow things down. A reaffirmation agreement is when you choose to keep paying a loan — usually a car loan — even though you filed Chapter 7.
If a reaffirmation hearing is scheduled after the 60-day waiting period (the earliest your discharge can be entered), the court may delay your discharge until the judge reviews the agreement. The case can’t move forward until that process is complete.
Finally, a creditor’s objection can also delay your discharge. In some cases, a creditor may file paperwork arguing that a specific debt shouldn’t be wiped out in your bankruptcy. This is relatively rare in straightforward Chapter 7 cases, but it does occasionally happen.
If a creditor files an objection, the court will review and resolve it before issuing your discharge, which can delay your discharge.
If no one objects, the court will usually enter your discharge automatically. You typically won’t need to take any extra steps.
What’s the Discharge Date in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?
In Chapter 13, your discharge date is the day the court officially wipes out your remaining eligible debts. The judge signs a discharge order, and that’s what makes it official. After that, the court closes your case as part of its normal process.
Chapter 13 takes longer than Chapter 7, but it can help you catch up on past-due payments for things like a mortgage or car loan while still working toward debt relief at the end of the plan.
In a Chapter 13 case, you make payments through a court-approved repayment plan that lasts 3–5 years. Once you complete the plan and meet all requirements, the court can enter your discharge.
What if Creditors Still Contact Me After My Discharge Date?
No creditor for any of your discharged debts should contact you after you receive your discharge. The discharge order contains a section that states creditors can’t collect discharged debts. The court typically includes this section using a form that explains the effect of the discharge order.
So if a creditor for one of your discharged debts like a credit card contacts you, they’re violating a federal court order. It’s quite possible that the person on the phone, whether they’re representing the original creditor or a collection agency, doesn’t know about the bankruptcy or the discharge. This may occur even if you sent the creditor notice of your bankruptcy.
Tell them the date of the discharge, your bankruptcy case number, and the specific bankruptcy court where you filed it, such as “the District of Arizona.” Also, tell them if it was a Chapter 7 or 13 case and the filing date. This should be enough information for them to realize that they should never contact you.
If a creditor makes further attempts to collect a discharged debt after your bankruptcy case is closed even though you’ve given them all the necessary information about the bankruptcy case, you may want to get legal help. You can talk to a bankruptcy attorney about filing a claim that the creditor violated the order of discharge under the Bankruptcy Code.
Non-Dischargeable Debts
Keep in mind that some debts like child support and alimony are non-dischargeable. That means they won’t be erased in your bankruptcy case. If you’re behind on any of these debts or a real estate mortgage with a secured creditor, you still have to repay these debts.
If a creditor contacts you because the debt is non-dischargeable, this may be a good opportunity to negotiate and set up a payment plan that resolves the debt. This will help you move forward and focus on improving your credit without the negative information from this creditor affecting your credit report and credit score.
Let’s Summarize…
The discharge date for a bankruptcy case is the date that the judge in your case signs the order finalizing your bankruptcy, which wipes out all of your dischargeable debts. You can find the date of the discharge next to the judge's signature.
If a creditor files an objection to the discharge or you fail to take the required financial management course, you may delay your discharge. It’s illegal for a creditor of any of your discharged debts to contact you after you receive your discharge order. If this happens, you may need to seek legal advice.
