So, you’ve found yourself in the same boat as millions of other Americans. You’ve suffered financial setbacks, perhaps lost a job, ended a marriage or incurred lots of medical bills. You struggled to catch up, keep your feet dry and stay out of the black hole of financial distress. In the end, you decided that the best way for you to bring that phase of your life to a close and get a fresh start was to file a bankruptcy case.


Your bankruptcy case, depending on the chapter under which you filed, took about four to six months to complete for a Chapter 7, or required you to make monthly payments for up to five years that went toward reducing your debt in a Chapter 13 case. At the conclusion of the case, you received your discharge. Now, you are ready to start anew.  

So, what happens now?

You certainly want and deserve a breather at this this point, a way to decompress and get your bearings. Unfortunately, some things will not wait. You may still have bills to pay that survived the case, ongoing obligations to the Bankruptcy Court or a need to set up a budget. Here’s a roadmap to help you sort all that out and, we hope, make things a little easier.

To learn more about each stop on the journey, click on the section title to be taken to an article that covers that particular topic.

Surviving and Thriving After Bankruptcy: Dealing WIth Emotions, Part 1

Surviving and Thriving After Bankruptcy: Dealing With Emotions, Part 2

You probably shed a few tears along the way. It’s drained you, maybe put a strain on your relationships. How will you get to a point where you can put this struggle and the bankruptcy behind you? You’ve just been through a major personal trial. This is the time to quiet down, take stock, and give yourself a chance to wrap your mind around what you’ve been through before you start making other decisions about major life changes like marriage, divorce, adding to your family, changing jobs or moving (unless you really really have to).

Surviving and Thriving After Bankruptcy: Ongoing Obligations

When you get your discharge, your case may not be finished. You may have some ongoing obligations to the Bankruptcy Court that you will be required to fulfill in order to keep your discharge.

In addition, it is a rare case that is completed without at least some debt that remains. A car loan that was reaffirmed, a home mortgage that continues, student loans or recent luxury charges can all survive a bankruptcy case. Having a plan to deal with those so that they do not become a program is critical to the success of the bankruptcy case even after the remainder of your debt is discharged.

Surviving and Thriving After Bankruptcy: Taking Stock of the Future

If one thing is certain, your financial picture is a lot different after you receive your discharge than it was before you filed your case. Now is that time to take stock, see what’s left to pay, consider your resources and build a budget that will take you into financial security.

Surviving and Thriving After Bankruptcy: Getting New Credit

You’re probably wondering if you’ll ever get credit again. Of course you will. Here’s what you need to do to start building a new credit history without it costing you an arm and a leg in the meantime.

Surviving and Thriving After Bankruptcy: Credit Reports

What is your credit report going to look like after you filed bankruptcy? How long will it take before things start looking better? Some of that depends on the passage of time, but there are things you can do that start the ball rolling toward a clean and productive report. One of the most important of these is making sure the information your creditors are reporting is accurate and timely.