§1228 Discharge

Summary

The court must grant the debtor a discharge when the debtor finishes all plan payments as soon as practical. If a court, agency, or law requires the debtor to pay child or spousal support, the debtor must also certify that support amounts due on or before that certification have been paid. The discharge wipes out debts covered by the plan and certain other allowed or disallowed claims, but it does not cancel debts listed in section 523(a) (except as section 1232(c) says) or debts covered by section 1222(b)(5) or 1222(b)(9). A written waiver of discharge signed by the debtor after the case began can stop the discharge. The court may give a discharge before all payments are done only if the missed payments were for reasons the debtor should not be blamed for, unsecured creditors got at least what they would in a chapter 7 liquidation as of the plan’s effective date, and changing the plan is not practical. Within one year after discharge, a party can ask to revoke it if the discharge was obtained by fraud that the requester did not know about until after the discharge; the court must hold a hearing. After discharge, the trustee’s job ends. The court cannot grant a discharge unless, at a hearing held no more than 10 days before the discharge order, it finds no reasonable cause to believe section 522(q)(1) may apply or that a related criminal or liability proceeding described in 522(q)(1)(A) or (B) is pending.