The Confirmation Hearing in a Chapter 13 Case
The Confirmation Hearing is where the bankruptcy judge approves, or “confirms,” your Chapter 13 payment plan.” You seldom need to attend.
The Chapter 13 Plan
As we said last week about the Meeting of Creditors, a Chapter 13 case is all about “the plan.” The plan is your financial roadmap during the 3 to 5 years that you are in the case. It’s put together by you and your bankruptcy lawyer, outlining what debts you’ll pay, how much, and when. (See this Chapter 13 Plan form.)
At the Meeting of Creditors your Chapter 13 trustee discusses the plan with you and your lawyer. Sometimes a creditor or two are also there. The Confirmation Hearing is a month or so later. By that time any concerns or objections raised at the Meeting of Creditors should be resolved. If so, the bankruptcy judge signs an order approving the plan. That plan may be exactly as you and your lawyer first put it together or may have some changes negotiated with the trustee and/or creditors.
You Seldom Go
You must attend the Meeting of Creditors, but almost never go to the Confirmation Hearing. You could go if you wanted. It’s a court hearing that anybody can attend. But there would almost never be anything you’d need to do there other than to observe what happens. In rare circumstances your lawyer will recommend or ask that you be there for some special reason. If you have any doubt be sure to ask.
The Straightforward Confirmation Hearing
The goal of the hearing is to get the judge’s approval of the plan. That’s formalized by the judge signing a document (usually prepared by your lawyer) called the Order Confirming Plan. The trustee often signs off on the plan beforehand. Sometimes that happens verbally at the Hearing, if there have been last minute negotiations or changes. (See this sample Order Confirming Chapter 13 Plan.)
At a straightforward Confirmation Hearing any trustee/creditor objections would have been fully resolved before the Hearing. So the trustee reports to the judge that either there were no objections to the plan or they’ve been resolved. So the judge reviews the plan and approves it, usually signing the Order Confirming Plan. At that point your plan becomes legally effective and in effect becomes the law of your case. (Note that usually you have already been paying into your plan from when it was filed a couple months earlier.)
The Not-So-Straightforward Confirmation Hearing
For lots of reasons a Chapter 13 plan may not be ready for the judge’s approval at the Confirmation Hearing. For example:
The trustee may be objecting to an expense in your budget that you think is necessary and appropriate. The trustee wants to lower or eliminate the amount and increase your monthly plan payment. Your lawyer has tried to resolve this by negotiation but that’s not worked. So the bankruptcy judge needs to rule on it.
A secured creditor may be disputing the value of its collateral and so how much you should pay it.
A creditor could raise an objection for the first time at the Confirmation Hearing itself, one which cannot immediately be resolved. Creditors almost always raise any objections long before the Hearing, which happens about two months after your case filing. But their final deadline to object to your plan is at the Confirmation Hearing. So there are occasional surprises.
Plan Still Approved at the Hearing
The judge can sometimes make a ruling at the Confirmation Hearing, resolving whatever is preventing plan approval. Then the plan could still get confirmed, right at the hearing. Or sometimes the judge gives one of the parties a certain amount of time to object to a tentative ruling. If there is no renewed objection within that time, the judge would sign an Order Confirming Plan without any further hearing.
Or the judge could schedule an Adjourned Confirmation Hearing. This could happen, for example, after the judge tells an objecting creditor and you to try to settle the matter. If the parties do settle, they can report that to the judge at the Adjourned Confirmation Hearing. The judge could then confirm the Chapter 13 plan, with any agreed amendments, at the Adjourned Confirmation Hearing. Or that Hearing could possibly be cancelled if the parties filed appropriate paperwork at court beforehand.
Cases Requiring Special Adjudication
Sometimes the disputing parties are simply not able to settle their dispute among themselves. It’s too complicated for the judge to rule on it during the few minutes allotted at an Adjourned Confirmation Hearing. So the issue is addressed in a separate proceeding, with both sides making their arguments. This is a Contested Matter, or an Adversary Proceeding if it goes so far as requiring a trial. After the judge’s decision, he or she will either confirm the plan, or in sometimes instead dismiss the Chapter 13 case or change it into a Chapter 7 one.
Most Chapter 13 Plans Get Confirmed
Most Chapter 13 plans do get confirmed, either at the initial Confirmation Hearing or within a few weeks afterwards. You and your lawyer need to prepare the plan carefully. Any objections should be addressed right away instead of waiting until right before the Confirmation Hearing. Of course you as the debtor need to do what your plan says you’ll do. If all these happen, very likely your plan will be confirmed and your case will be on its way.