Confirmation Hearing and Trustee Objections in Chapter 13
Confirmation Hearing and Trustee Objections in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy – What does it mean?
You have a Confirmation hearing in Chapter 13. The trustee is objecting to your plan. What is it – this Confirmation hearing? Does this mean that the Chapter 13 trustee is rejecting your case? Actually, quite the opposite is usually true. Your case is actually in the process of being approved. Confirmation hearings and trustee objections happen on almost every Chapter 13 case. This is simply the method in which your Chapter 13 case is approved by the court. You usually have nothing to worry about.
Confirmation Hearing in Chapter 13
When the trustee objects to your Chapter 13 plan, a confirmation hearing is set on your case. You usually do not need to attend these hearings. If your attorney is not contacting you to attend, you will likely not need to go the hearing. In fact, in many Chapter 13 cases, these hearings will not even occur because the Trustee and your attorney will make an agreement before the hearing.
Confirmation hearings occur usually because of a Trustee’s objection to your plan being confirmed. However, the trustee usually is only objecting to some very small matters. Other times, they are only objecting due to some very small procedural matters. Unless your case is especially complex or there are novel issues, you usually only need to keep making your payment and follow the instructions of your attorney. You will likely never be required to attend these hearings. Keep in mind that there may be multiple rounds of these hearings set. Follow your attorney’s instruction, but keep in mind that these may be very small matters each time that just take time to calculate and resolve.
Objection to Confirmation in Chapter 13
The objection to confirmation will usually reveal the small matters that need to be addressed in your case. The Chapter 13 trustee is only objecting to few items (or one item) listed in the objection. Your attorney will handle these objections. Although the language may look complex, your attorney will understand exactly what the trustee is referencing. Changes such as payment increases (or decreases), claims to be filed, or additional documents to be turned into the case are common. These are usually very basic calculations, but some of them simply take time to resolve.
Confirmation Can Sometimes Take Several Months in Chapter 13
Most cases in Chapter 13 are confirmed in 3-6 months. Other cases may take up to a year or longer to confirm. However, all of this is normal. All you need to do is follow the instructions of your attorney. Get your attorney all documents that requested as soon as possible. Also, keep making on-time payments to the trustee. Just because your case is not yet confirmed does not mean that your case is being rejected by any means. It simply means that more time must pass to work out the final details.
