Bankruptcy Discharge-Eligibility Screener

What the screener checks

• § 727(a)(8): bars a Chapter 7 discharge if the debtor received a prior Chapter 7 discharge within 8 years before the current petition.
• § 727(a)(9): bars a Chapter 7 discharge under certain conditions when the debtor received a Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 discharge within 6 years.
• § 1328(f)(1): bars a Chapter 13 discharge if the debtor received a discharge in a Chapter 7, 11, or 12 case filed within 4 years before the current petition.
• § 1328(f)(2): bars a Chapter 13 discharge if the debtor received a discharge in a prior Chapter 13 case filed within 2 years before the current petition.

How to use it

The screener asks for the chapter and file date of each prior bankruptcy discharge and the chapter being considered for the current filing. It returns a plain-language assessment of whether § 1328(f) or § 727(a) timing bars would apply. All calculations run entirely in the browser — nothing is sent to a server, and no history is retained.

The screener does not assess eligibility beyond the timing-bar statutes. Other eligibility criteria (means test, debt caps under § 109(e), credit-counseling status) are not part of the tool.

Methodology

The screener implements the statutory rules from 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f) and § 727(a). Filing-date calculations use the petition filing date, not the case-closure date, consistent with the statutory text. Where the rule depends on a condition other than the timing comparison (e.g., § 727(a)(9) plan-payment condition), the screener flags the conditional outcome and links to the controlling statutory text.

For more detail on the statutory framework, see the Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13 guide and the methodology page.

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