What if you forgot to list a creditor in your Chapter 7 bankruptcy paperwork?

If you have non-exempt assets, meaning that some of your property will be seized by your trustee and sold to pay your creditors, the omitted creditor won’t be able to receive their share of the proceeds from the sale of those assets.  Therefore, that creditor’s claim against you won’t be discharged and they can bring a collection action against you even after the court grants your discharge.However, if there are no assets that are non-exempt, then there’s nothing for the trustee to sell.  If there’s nothing for the trustee to sell, a creditor receives nothing from your estate whether you list them or not.  In most jurisdictions, this means that the debt is discharged whether you listed them in your bankruptcy or not.  However, a minority of jurisdictions hold that only claims that are listed on your bankruptcy filing are discharged.If you find, after filing, that you’ve neglected to list a creditor in your bankruptcy, consult with a qualified local bankruptcy attorney to determine if the debt needs to be listed in order to be discharged.  If it does, you may be able to amend your forms to add the claim.  If your case has already closed, you may be able to reopen it to add in the omitted creditor