Many debtors who file bankruptcy cases without the assistance of a bankruptcy attorney eventually receive a shocking notice in the mail which states: “Case closed without discharge.  Debtor has not filed a Financial
Management Course Certificate proving compliance with the required instructional course requirement for discharge.” However, they’ve done everything else required of them except for taking the required financial management course and filing the required Form 23.   All that time and work, and no discharge?

Fortunately, there is usually a solution if this happens in your case.  Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 350,  and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure  5010 you can file a motion to reopen your case and, if granted, take and file the required financial management course certificate. The best way to accomplish this is to hire a bankruptcy attorney for this purpose to make sure the facts of your case are presented properly and maximize your chances to have the Motion granted and to get your discharge entered.

There is a court mandated filing fee for the Motion to Reopen for the purpose of filing official form 23 (presently $260) and attorney’s fees vary, but this is not the time to skimp and save.  You have now discovered one of the reasons why you should have hired a bankruptcy attorney in the first place; now is the time to do so and obtain your discharge.

One of the requirements of the new bankruptcy law that went into effect in October 2005 is that all individual debtors filing a bankruptcy case must complete a credit counseling course by a certified company within six months prior to filing their bankruptcy case.

Recently I have received a number of comments from potential clients telling me that they were informed that they had to complete the credit counseling course, then wait six months before they can file their bankruptcy case. This is completely untrue.

The certificate for a completed credit counseling course is valid for 6 months. If for some reason you obtain a certificate and do not file your bankruptcy case (Chapter 7, Chapter 13 or Chapter 11) within 6 months, then you need to take the course again and obtain another certificate.

The course itself probably takes about an hour or so to complete. Many credit counseling agencies allow this to be done online.

There is another financial management course which Congress requires debtors to take AFTER the bankruptcy case is filed. This is a prerequisite to obtaining a discharge of debts. This financial management course (also called a debt management course) takes a similar amount of time as the credit counseling course to complete and can also be done online in many instances.