Modesto, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Yes, you can do that.  Whether you should or not is a completely different issue.  The question is whether you'd be able to protect your primary residence from sale in the Chapter 7 and there's no way to know that without all the facts. It depends on the amount of equity in your primary residence (after you pay it off), and which state's exemption laws apply to your case. If you have resided in California for the past 2 years, California law would apply and you can protect up to $100,000 in equity in your homestead if you are married ($75,000 if single).    

There is no form motion to reopen a case.  You need to have your attorney prepare the pleading. However, unless there were assets disbursed by the Trustee in your case, there is no reason you would need to reopen your case to add creditors (nor would the court allow it anyway). Unlisted debts are still discharged in a Chapter 7 case pursuant to applicable case law (e.g. In re Beezley).   The creditors still have a right to seek to reopen the case to object to the discharge of their debts if they have some basis to do so (such as fraud), but unless and until they successfully do so, the debts are discharged. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.  

Generally speaking student loans are not dischargeable without filing and succeeding in an adversarial case after the filing of the bankruptcy. 11 U.S.C. Section 523 lists several exceptions to discharge. For student loans see 523(a)(8). "Undue burden" has not been defined by the code and so the courts have been interpreting this to mean different things. Most jurisdictions apply a 3 prong test. People who do qualify for undue hardship discharge face the challenge of either maneuvering through a lawsuit unassisted by an attorney against a lawyered up creditor or trying to find an attorney to work pro bono. These are not easy cases. If you do an online search on this topic some more you can find cases of individuals in pretty dire circumstances fighting very hard to obtain a discharge, in some cases even a partial one. In my opinion, this needs a political solution, meaning change in the laws everyone is encouraged to contact their local representative but only a few do while many struggle and complain about their situation. There is simply too much information and things to consider to dive into this topic in this forum. You can contact a local attorney to discuss in more details. If you have already filed your case and wish to proceed to attempt a discharge you will want to act quickly as you must file the lawsuit while the case is still open. You can retain an attorney just for this part of the work in your case as this is not the type of service that is typically included in the fees of a standard bankruptcy filing.