Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

The answer to your question is not very simple. Many of the debts that you have listed from 11 U.S.C. � 523(a) are automatically nondischargeable. Some of the debts from that list will be discharged unless your mother files a bankruptcy lawsuit call and adversary proceeding. Bankruptcy attorneys often refer to this as an AP.

You didn't specify why your mom believes that this debt should be declared nondischargeable, so she should see a local attorney to determine if an AP is even really necessary. Filing an AP without an attorney isn't easy and while an attorney is not needed, you must be prepared to take the matter to trial.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you or your mother want to learn a lot about Federal Rules of Bankruptcy and Civil Procedure, the Bankruptcy Code and local procedural rules in the immediate future, this is something that is going to be extremely difficult to handle without retaining an attorney.

First, there is no "form" objection to a debtor receiving a discharge. A summons (a form available on the Court's website) and a complaint (which is a legal pleading that is not a form, but rather must be drafted from scratch in the proper format) must be filed with the bankruptcy court setting for the allegations upon which she bases her claim that the debt is nondischargeable; and the legal basis for the debt being nondischargeable. As you correctly note in your post, there are several grounds for objecting, however, you did not indicate which of these grounds she believes exist. Some debts are "nondischargeable" as a matter of law. Student loans, for instance, will not be discharged by a Debtor in bankruptcy without any action on the part of the student loan creditor. Other grounds for nondischargeability, such as the Fraud exception to discharge, require that the creditor file an Adversarial Proceeding (the complaint), and effectively prosecute a lawsuit within the bankruptcy to seek court determination that the debt is nondischargeable (the summons and complaint discussed above).

These Adversarial Proceedings are governed by several sets of laws and procedural rules, including the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Court/District Rules. Once the Adversarial Proceeding is filed, and served on the Debtor and anyone else required to be served, your mother will have to prosecute this just like a lawsuit, which can be extremely complex and burdensome. Again, it is extremely rare that a non-attorney with no experience in the bankruptcy court would be able to successfully prosecute an adversarial proceeding. Research Adversarial Proceedings and the basis by which your mother claims the debt owed to her is not dischargeable, and I think you will get a pretty good sense of how difficult this will be.

Finally, she can attend the Meeting of Creditors without filing an Adversarial Proceeding, however, she needs to be aware that on the notice from the Bankruptcy Court of this person's bankruptcy case filing, there is a deadline by which the complaint objecting to the discharge of her debt must be filed. It is an absolute deadline, and if she fails to file a proceeding by that date, her debt may be discharged, and she may have no recourse whatsoever.

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