Chapter 13 plan almost paid off. What happens next?

[memuzzy]

I have been checking the national data center for the balances on my accounts. According to my calculations I owe under $2000 on my case. I pay around $1100 a month into my plan. I believe that around the end of June or the beginning of July the case will finally be done.
My attorney said back in January that once the creditors are paid off the case goes to the Trustee to start the discharge process.

I have been living within a budget for so very long that I am now use to living on less. My bills are paid on time every month. My credit score is going up slightly. My husband and I had to purchase a car about 3 years ago when our old dump died on us. We got the court's approval to incur debt for the car loan. This case has been a difficult one. We hired a lawyer and he made some errors on the case which caused us to have to include our IRS bill into our plan. The back taxes were paid off through the plan. We had to adjust our taxes 2 times before we finally owed nothing the last two years. We had to modify our case because I had to quit work because of a serious shoulder injury. I was a nurse aide by profession and couldn't lift anymore.

Once the creditors are paid off when will our payments stop to the court? I know that the Trustee will inform my husband's employer to stop the garnishment from his checks.

When will we be able to purchase another car once the payments stop? We need another vehicle we are having problems with the car just because of the mileage on it. It has been a great car but my husband travels a long distance to work so he needs a reliable car. We are already approved through our current lender for another vehicle.

I guess I have lots of questions but don't want to bother my attorney because she is swamped with a lot of new cases because of the economy.

It is only basic information that I need about our case's discharge.

To anyone reading this believe me that it has been a life lesson learning about credit and rebuilding your life after bankruptcy. My husband lost his job in 2002 before the economy bust. He was unemployed for nearly 18 months because of his "over qualified" status of having an MBA. That was back nearly 10 years ago. Don't give up. You'll make it through. It's not easy but you'll be grateful for learning to live within your means.

Thanks for any help.

[spidge]

First off, congrats on making it through. You can expect to keep paying until the trustee is satisfied that all balances are paid and that means that they have cashed their checks too. A final audit by the trustee will determine if any monies are owed back to you, but unfortunately you need to keep making your payments unless told otherwise. You could ask your attorney once that last payment has been credited to your BK.
I don't think you gave enough info about the attorney causing excess grief, but you mentioned changing withholdings all in the same breath. You are responsible for your taxes not the attorney. By the way I am going through the same process now. I owed a large amount which helped me to decide to file and the very next year I owed again, but much less which means it is manageable.
I cannot tell you anything about buying a car after BK as I am not there yet, but many on here have been very successful. I do hope you do not need to finance much to avoid any debt. Try doing a yearly cost analysis of your old car verses a new or newer one. If you have been paying $1100 per month on the BK, when it is done you could put that toward a car. I know I am stating the obvious, but cash is king, you know.
The way my wife and I have been looking at the after BK life is how many BK payments will it take to save up for a roof, car, plumbing, etc... If we get through it there is no excuse not to try to pay cash for stuff.

[kiheimer]

For me the discharge process has been a nightmare. The last of my debts were paid off last October. I figured i would be discharged by years end.
Boy was I wrong. When they audited my account they realized one of my creditors was overpaid $103. They kept me in limbo for 4 months while
they tried to collect it. Meanwhile money witheld added up to $5k at one point. On 2-12-12 witholdings were stopped. I had enough in my account
so they paid Feb & March house payments. On 3-15-12 my case was "closed" After that I was told there is a 30 day waitng period to see if anyone
objects to me getting discharged. Last saturday I recieved a check from the tustee for the remainder in my account. I still have not been discharged.
I never dreamed I would be in this Chapter 13 in May of 2012.

[fromlu]

We have just 2 more payment before the magical 60 months ends. I know this may sound crazy, but there was a little security in being under the BK umbrella. No collections or worries that some unknown creditor may show up wanting money. I hope we can end it quickly and quietly and life can go on without financial worries. I plan on taking the amount we pay each month and putting it into savings each month. Cant hurt and since we already pay it I dont need to spend it on "stuff" which is easy to do.

Best wishes memuzzy, hope it all ends well.