You will submit what is known as a "Chapter 13 Plan" along with your bankruptcy petition and debt repayment schedules; this Plan will outline for the court and your creditors how you intend to repay your debts. You will begin to make your Chapter 13 Plan payments immediately after your documents are filed with the court.

You will appear at a Meeting of Creditors, at which time the court-appointed trustee will review your Plan, petition and schedules, and will ask you any questions that he or she might have. Though you are sworn to tell the truth, this meeting is extremely informal; the judge is not present, and questioning is usually completed in a few minutes.

Some time after the Meeting of Creditors, you will be called before the judge for a Confirmation Hearing. At this meeting, the trustee will make a recommendation as to whether your Chapter 13 Plan is adequate for the repayment of your debts. The judge will then either approve your Chapter 13 Plan or require you to revise the Plan and come back again. One major reason for the court refusing to approve your Plan would be a failure to repay certain creditors over the life of the Plan.