In a chapter 7 bankruptcy in Northwest Georgia, a creditor can file an objection to a discharge of their debt. The legal term for this is a complaint to determine dischargeability.
The most common scenario where a creditor will file a complaint to determine whether debts will be discharged in a chapter 7 bankruptcy is credit card debt. When a person is who filing bankruptcy has made credit card charges on their account within 90 days prior to the filing of the bankruptcy case, it is likely that the credit card company is going to file a complaint to determine the dischargeability of that specific debt.
In the complaint, the credit card company will allege that the debtor knew or reasonably should have known that they would never be in a position to repay the credit card debt at the time the credit card charges were made. If the creditor wins, the debtor will not be able to eliminate the debt. In cases where the debtor was employed at the time the charges were made but has since lost their job, the credit card company will most likely lose their lawsuit. The key is the intent of the debtor when the charges were made on the credit card account.
In contrast to credit card debt, I have never seen a objection to discharge filed on medical debt. The reason is that no one intentionally runs up their medical bills before filing. No one can reasonably argue that you chose to have a heart attack, cancer, or broken bone right before filing bankruptcy.
However, credit card companies can make strong arguments that debt was intentionally incurred in some cases. For example, if the charges were made for a trip to Hawaii, they may have a strong case. On the other hand, if the trip was for a honeymoon and then you found out that you lost your job when you got back, the case against you would be much weaker.
The facts behind the charges should be discussed with your bankruptcy attorney before you ever file a case. For this reason, I insist on spending at least two hours with my clients reviewing every single debt in the entire case. A good bankruptcy attorney will do everything they can to point out any pitfalls of your case before it is ever filed with the bankruptcy court.
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