When it's close to discharge

[Carmella]

From what I have gathered on the forum when the final BK payments are made the trustee has to wait for all checks to be cashed by the creditors and then the case is audited to make sure everything was done correctly and when everything is checked then there's the discharge.

Is this basically how it happens/simplified terms.

I posted about the IRS dilemma, and we have an outstanding balance that I feel we really need to pay off or get pretty darn low prior to the discharge process. I have not contacted the attorney but will when I find out the creditors have all been paid. I will check NDC next week and if my calculations are right, it could be in two weeks after my next paycheck unless it goes by the month (trustee pays monthly) then it would be in about 4 weeks.

I will find out exactly how much we still owe the IRS. I am worried this could mess up the discharge, but I was planning to have this paid off (voluntary payments since I can't have a payment plan) by the end of this year since BK was slated to end March/April 2023.

I don't know how speedy the automatic payment will stop from my paycheck, but I could pay off the IRS with the " BK payment amount" within 2 paychecks easily, maybe even within 1 paycheck.

The IRS has a recording that stated something to the effect they do not seek out the money owed until after Discharge so I am not concerned about them garnishing, but I am a tad nervous about the discharge process with trustee. Like I said I plan to contact the attorney but want to wait just a little longer before I do.

[shipo]

I'm thinking the final steps are a bit different:

1. Make final payment
2. Trustee acknowledges final payment and it clears
3. Trustee files confirms all payments have been made
4. Debtor submits a form indicating they don't owe any child support or other domestic obligations
5. Trustee submits necessary stuff for discharge
6. Court grants discharge
7. Trustee waits for all payments to creditors to clear
8. Trustee does final accounting
9. Trustee submits necessary stuff for a closure of the case

In my case, the time between step 1 and step 2 was about a week, and the time between step 2 and step 6 was about a month; said another way, figure 5 to 6 weeks from the day you mail your final payment to when you get your discharge. The actual closing of the case can take several more months.