An experienced bankruptcy attorney like Alberto Montefalcon has the expertise and experience to assist all chapter 13 debtors who must reorganize and file a chapter 13 repayment plan. Additionally, a chapter 13 plan must be able to withstand any objection by creditors and be confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court. Filing a bankruptcy case and seeing it through to discharge may be complicated and requires the assistance of an attorney who will be actively present throughout the entire bankruptcy case, including confirmation of the chapter 13 plan.

No more than 45 days after the bankruptcy case’s meeting of creditors, a confirmation hearing must be held by the bankruptcy court to determine whether the plan is feasible and meets the standards for confirmation pursuant to federal law.

Creditors must receive timely notice of the hearing and may object to confirmation of the chapter 13 plan of repayment and reorganization. Typically, these objections include:

• The debtor’s plan does not commit all of the debtor’s projected disposable income for the three- or five-year applicable commitment period; or
• Payments as proposed by the plan amount to less than what creditors would receive if the debtor had filed a chapter 7 and his or her assets were liquidated.

As a result of this confirmation hearing, four eventual outcomes are possible:

• The court confirms the plan. In the event of this occurring, the chapter 13 trustee will distribute all monies received under the plan “as soon as is practicable.”
• The court fails to confirm the plan. In the event of this, the debtor may file a modified plan.
• The case is converted. The debtor converts the case to a chapter 7 liquidation.
• The court dismisses the case. The court may then authorize the trustee to retain some plan funds for costs, but all other remaining monies, with the exception of funds already disbursed or due to creditors, must be returned to the debtor.

If a chapter 13 debtor becomes delinquent on plan payments or encounters any objection to confirmation, he or she may amend the plan of repayment before confirmation or modify the plan after confirmation. Both italicized terms mean the same thing and only serve to distinguish when the plan was revised – before or after confirmation.

To learn more about the advantages of filing of a bankruptcy case, contact the experienced Sacramento metropolitan area/Northern California attorneys at the Montefalcon Law Offices. Contact us online or schedule a free consultation at any of our three conveniently located offices. Telephone our downtown Sacramento office at (916) 444 0440, our south Sacramento office at (916) 399-9944, or our Concord office at (925) 222-5929.