Expert: Mark J. Markus- California Bankruptcy Attorney - 6/2/2008

Question
My soon-to-be ex-husband filed a Chapter 13 in 2003(dismissed) and then converted to Chapter 7 in 2004 which was discharged later in 2004. Recently, I went to see tax attorney and he said that I only have to wait 6 years under the new bankruptcy law to file another chapter 7. I live in Houston, TX and questioned this and he reiterated that I only have to wait 6 years. Is he uninformed or is there something that I'm missing?

Answer
OK, there are several unclear items from your facts.

First of all, if you did not file a prior bankruptcy (you state that it was your husband that filed), then you don't have to wait at all to file a bankruptcy case.  However, assuming that you DID file the prior bankruptcy case indicated, then:

2.  You state that it was a Chapter 13 case that got dismissed.   Then you state that it was converted to a Chapter 7.  A case cannot be both dismissed and converted, so something is wrong with your facts there.

The rule is that you cannot receive a discharge in a Chapter 7 case if you received a discharge in a prior Chapter 7 case that was commenced within 8 years prior to the filing of the subsequent case.

I cannot answer, given the discrepancy in your facts, whether that 8 years begins to run from the 2003 Chapter 13 case, or the 2004 Chapter 7 case.