when a debtor receives a discharge order they are no longer legally required to pay the debts specified in the order what s more any creditor listed on the discharge order cannot legally undertake any type of collection activity such as making phone calls or sending letters against the debtor once the discharge order is in force 
however not all debts qualify to be discharged some of these include tax claims anything that was not listed by the debtor child support or alimony payments personal injury debts and debts to the government in addition any secured creditor can still enforce a lien against property owned by the debtor provided that the lien is still valid 10debtors do not necessarily have the right to a discharge when a petition for bankruptcy has been filed in court creditors receive a notice and can object if they choose to do so if they do they will need to file a complaint in court before the deadline this leads to the filing of an adversary proceeding to recover money owed or enforce a lien 11the discharge from chapter 7 is usually granted about four months after the debtor files a petition for bankruptcy for any other type of bankruptcy the discharge can occur when it becomes practical 11advantages and disadvantages of bankruptcydeclaring bankruptcy can help relieve you of your legal obligation to pay your debts and save your home business or ability to function financially depending on which kind of bankruptcy petition you file but it will also lower your credit rating making it more difficult to get a loan mortgage or credit card buy a home or business or rent an apartment if you re trying to decide whether you should file for bankruptcy your credit is probably already damaged but it s worth noting that a chapter 7 filing will stay on your credit report for 10 years while a chapter 13 will remain there for seven any creditors or lenders you apply to for new debt such as a car loan credit card line of credit or mortgage will see the discharge on your report which can prevent you from getting any credit 12allows debtors to emerge from defaultwipes clean certain unsecured debtsavoids legal judgmentleaves a scar on one s credit scoresecured debts will have the collateral seizedcertain debts like child support are not eligible for dischargealternatives to bankruptcyif you want to avoid bankruptcy several alternatives may be able to reduce your debt obligations negotiating with your creditors without involving the courts can sometimes work to the benefit of both sides rather than risk receiving nothing a creditor might agree to a repayment schedule that reduces your debt or spreads your payments over a longer period of time if you are unable to make your mortgage payments it s worth calling your loan servicer to find out what options you might have short of filing for bankruptcy those could include forbearance which will allow you to stop making payments for a specified time or a repayment plan designed to stretch smaller monthly payments over a longer period another option might be loan modification which will change the terms of your loan such as lowering the interest rate on a permanent basis making it easier to repay however beware of unsolicited offers from companies claiming that they can keep your home out of foreclosure they may be nothing more than scam artists if you owe tax money to the irs you may be eligible for an offer in compromise allowing you to settle with the agency for an amount less than you owe in some instances the irs also offers monthly payment plans for taxpayers who can t pay their tax obligations all at once 