What is a discharge in bankruptcy?

A “discharge” in bankruptcy means that you are legally free from paying certain debts. This means that the creditors will no longer have a right to collect the money that was owed to them. This is not temporary but a permanent order prohibiting the creditors from taking any action to collect debts, including communicating with the debtor, such as through the telephone or through letters.

While in a Chapter 7 a discharge occurs relatively early, in a Chapter 13 it may not. In a Chapter 7 you will normally receive the discharge within a few months after the petition is filed. This is different from a Chapter 13 bankruptcy because the discharge doesn’t typically occur until you are finished with your payments that you made under your repayment plan.