If you want to pay a certain debt for a special reason, such as to keep your car, you may reaffirm the debt. To reaffirm the debt, you must sign a Reaffirmation Agreement with the creditor and file the agreement with the court. To be valid, the agreement must be voluntary, it must not impose too heavy a financial burden on you, and it must be in your best interest. Further, the agreement can be cancelled before discharge of the debt or within sixty days of filing the agreement, whichever is later.
You should consider carefully before reaffirming any debt because if the debt is reaffirmed, it is not discharged through bankruptcy. If you later find that you can’t pay the debt, the creditor can take action as if the bankruptcy had never happened.
For more information, see: 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-112 (2015); 28 U.S.C. § 1930 (a
mended in part by 2013 US Order 0014) (2015); National Consumer Law Center, Surviving Debt: A Guide for Consumers (5th ed. 2005); James W. Martin Jr., Bankruptcy, in The West Virginia Practice Handbook Vol.1 (The West Virginia State Bar, Young Lawyers’ Division, eds., 4th ed. 1996); United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of West Virginia, Filing and Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, http://www.wvsb.uscourts.gov/content/filing-fees (last visited June 10, 2015).