Voluntary Dismissal

• The Sixth Circuit Court will not usually allow you to dismiss your own Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It ruled against debtors trying to do this in 2009 and again in 2010, on the grounds that it would not be fair to the creditors. You can try by filing a motion to dismiss with the court. A judge will decide on your request at a scheduled hearing. You can dismiss your own Chapter 13 bankruptcy at any time, however. This is a simple matter of submitting a request to the court.
  
  

Dismissal by Trustee

• Involuntary dismissals can occur if you neglect to make Chapter 13 payments; if you fail to file all the required paperwork; or if the trustee or one of your creditors finds out that you misrepresented some fact in your petition. Generally, you will first receive a warning alerting you to whatever the problem is. If you don't remedy the mistake, the trustee will file a motion with the court to dismiss your case. You'll receive a copy, which will include the date of the hearing.
  
  You'll have approximately a month to fix whatever went wrong, either by paying your missed payments, filing the necessary paperwork or working out a solution with the trustee. If you feel the trustee is wrong, you can argue your case to the judge at the hearing. If you fail at all efforts, the judge will most likely dismiss your case.
  
  

Options

• If the judge dismisses your case for a technical oversight or missed Chapter 13 payments, you can still file a motion for him to reconsider his opinion, and offer any missing paperwork or overdue payments. If the judge dismisses your case because a creditor or the trustee believes you lied about something in your petition, you can file an appeal and produce evidence that proves that the allegations against you aren't true. You won't have much time to do either of these things, so act immediately. If you don't already have an attorney, seek the services of one because both processes involve points of law of which only a professional may be aware.
  
  

Risks

• After dismissal of your case, you must wait six months to file again. During this time, you lose the automatic stay preventing your creditors from taking action against you to collect the debts that you owe. If you file again, two bankruptcies will appear on your credit report -- both the dismissed case and your second effort. This is even more damaging than just one. Unless you've decided that you don't want to go forward with your Chapter 13 reorganization payment plan, you should do everything possible to prevent dismissal of your case.