Can I Amend a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy After Discharge to Add a Creditor?

New Debts

• Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code rules that your bankruptcy applies only to debts that you incurred up to the date of your discharge. If you contract for a new debt after your discharge, the law doesn't allow you to amend or reopen your bankruptcy to add that creditor if you can't pay the debt. Your only option in this case is to wait eight years from your first discharge so you can legally file a second bankruptcy petition.
  
  

No-asset Bankruptcies

• If you forget to add an existing debt to your bankruptcy petition and don't discover your mistake until after your discharge, some judges interpret the law to mean that it really doesn't matter; your discharge applies to all unsecured debts you had at the time, whether you listed them in your petition or not. This is generally true in no-asset cases. If none of your creditors received any sort of payment because you had no assets for the trustee to liquidate so he could give them partial payment, it wouldn't matter if your forgotten creditor was included in your petition or not. It wouldn't have received any money anyway. In this case, it's usually not necessary to amend or reopen your case.
  
  

Asset Bankruptcies

• A different scenario exists if you did have property that the trustee liquidated, so some of your creditors received some payment before the court discharged the balance of your debt. In this case, you placed your forgotten creditor at an unfair disadvantage when you forgot to include it. It might have collected some money toward your debt if you had named it in your petition in the first place. You would therefore have to file a motion with the court to reopen your bankruptcy and add the creditor. It's not possible to simply "amend" your bankruptcy petition; you need permission from the court to start over so your forgotten creditor can be included the second time around. Most judges will allow this if they think it was an honest mistake on your part, but it is a two-part process. First, the judge must allow you to reopen your bankruptcy. Then you must litigate the forgotten debt, so the judge can decide whether it should be discharged, or if you should be required to pay it.
  
  

Tips

• If yours was a no-asset case and you realize you forgot to include a creditor, try to contact the creditor directly before you go through the time and expense of reopening your case. Sometimes a letter to the creditor, pointing out that the law discharges all existing debts if you had no assets, will convince the creditor not to take any further action against you. Otherwise, consult with an attorney to explore your options. The judges in your district might have firm opinions about such situations, so an attorney can guide you to your best course of action.