what do i do now???

[digimom]

we filed Chapter 7 on Jun 30. had our 341 meeting on August 1st and recieved our discharge papers last week but it was set to Nov.2nd. Now today Nov. 13 i get a letter in the mail
here is what it said

Order setting asside final decree and re-opening estate

the court finds that inadvertantly and due to clerical error an order of final decree was entered in the above captioned case on November 2, 2006.
IT IS ORDERED BY THE COURT

that the order of final decree previously entered November 2nd, 2006 is set aside, the trustees bond is reinstated and this case is reopened. dated november 7th.

What the heck does this mean? are we in trouble? i don't think we forgot to add anyone. WE had a reaffirmation hearing and that went fine. Why would they re-open a case that has been discharged and closed.
please any help here. are we in for a long road ahead of us?
michelle

[digimom]

i registered on Pacer and looked through all my info but i never found why or what kind of error it was that reopened the case. But it did say that the case was still discharged. so which brings me to question i am discharged but the case is still open? is discharge and open not the same thing? maybe when we got our discharge papers it said that the case was discharged and closed. maybe they meant it to be dishcharged but not yet closed? does a case automatically close when it is discharged? or does it discharge then later on close? I don't know i am taking in so much info i am confusing myself!
michelle

[CindyLou]

sounds like its still discharged to me. my case wasn't closed until almost 3 months after discharge. maybe they are not finished doing all the "background" paperwork to have closed it. do you have any questionable circumstances in your case?

[HHM]

Court's use different terminology, but from what I can find, Final Decree is different than discharge. Some courts call it the Final Report.

Final Decree is associated with the "closing" of your case, not the Discharge. Thus, if all that happened was the setting aside of the Final Decree, then YES, you are still discharged. It just means that the trustee has some loose ends to tie-up on the administrative side of your case.

If the order said, "setting aside discharge" then you would have some problems. However, I wouldn't worry about the notice you just received.

[miss puff]

If the order said, "setting aside discharge" then you would have some problems. However, I wouldn't worry about the notice you just received.

It looks like the notice said exactly that! The setting aside discharge part that is. Good luck digimom.

[digimom]

thanks everyone! i hope to know more later on. i am thinking that when they sent me the discharge papers they also closed the case. well I am assuming it wasn't their intention to yet close the case, so they sent me the letter letting me know that they had to re-open the case due to "clerical error" the error being that they accidently closed the case when it wasn't ready to be closed yet but the discharge is still in effect. i am soo hoping this is the case thanks for your help everyone!
michelle

[HHM]

thanks everyone! i hope to know more later on. i am thinking that when they sent me the discharge papers they also closed the case. well I am assuming it wasn't their intention to yet close the case, so they sent me the letter letting me know that they had to re-open the case due to "clerical error" the error being that they accidentally closed the case when it wasn't ready to be closed yet but the discharge is still in effect. i am soo hoping this is the case thanks for your help everyone!
michelle

My money is on that explanation. Did you need to turn over a tax return, or was there some asset the trustee had or was going to get as part of your BK.

This thread talks about the difference between discharge and closing.

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showthread.php?t=10879

To miss puff...The discharge actual says "Order of Discharge". The "Final Decree" is an entirely different document and is used to "Close" a case. In a true No Asset case, the Order of Discharge and Final Decree are typically filed at the same time, but are still separate documents. According to digimom, all she received was a Notice setting aside "Final Decree" and re-opening case. Thus, I would say it is 99% likely that the Discharge is undisturbed.

[miss puff]

To miss puff...The discharge actual says "Order of Discharge". The "Final Decree" is an entirely different document and is used to "Close" a case. In a true No Asset case, the Order of Discharge and Final Decree are typically filed at the same time, but are still separate documents. According to digimom, all she received was a Notice setting aside "Final Decree" and re-opening case. Thus, I would say it is 99% likely that the Discharge is undisturbed.

OOPS!! My bad. Didn't read the two different endings...
Thanks for clearing that up.
(see what happens when I try to be smart and think I know something, lol)