One of the petty struggles I have with clients is convincing them that they need to include all of their debts in bankruptcy. Sometimes, they will tell me they don’t want to include their car loan in the case because they “need the car”. Sometimes I find the student loan payment in the budget but not on the list of creditors.

Part of the issue is grounded in confusion between scheduling a debt and discharging the debt. Debtors are required to list all of their debts and risk denial of discharge if they don’t. However, debts are not necessarily discharged just because they are listed. The Bankruptcy Code specifies a number of debts that simply aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy. Those debts still must be listed.

The desire to exclude debts from the schedules is sometimes fanned because debtors don’t know that they can reaffirm debts during their case. A reaffirmation agreement essentially waives the discharge as to that particular debt and puts the parties back on the same legal footing as they had before the bankruptcy was filed.

Clients are frequently surprised when they learn that they can continue to pay a discharged debt voluntarily if they wish. “Pay the dentist after the case is filed if you wish, but list them in the bankruptcy if you owe money when the case is filed. ”

Then, there are the clients who “love” their credit card issuer and want to keep paying because of loyalty or out of fear of being without plastic. I have to tell them that for some card issuers, the love is one sided, and the issuer will cancel the card independently of being listed or not in the case.

Moral of the story, there are a number of options for debts post filing, so don’t get tripped up by leaving out creditors.