Expert: Terry Leeders - 1/26/2009

Question
If all the claims were not filed by creditors in the bankruptcy court, is the total amount filed reduced according to the claims filed against it? In other words, I was ordered to pay out about $78K. But I received a letter after 1 year from the Trustee showing only about 1/2 of the creditors have filed a claim.  Does this mean that the amount that I will ultimately pay is the amount submitted per claim which is about $39K?

Answer
Your plan terms control. Reread your plan, it may say that there is a minimum pot to pay into, which means that the creditors will get a little more, or it may say that each creditor gets a fixed payment amount.  You are correct, that if a creditor doesn't file a claim, they will not get anything thru the case.  You should watch to see if it is a secured debt though, as the security interest still remains even if the debt was discharged. Ask your lawyer to confirm.  Thanks.