When a bankruptcy case begins, many people expect a straight path: file the petition, follow the schedule, complete the plan or process, and move on. Real life often looks different. Income changes, paperwork issues come up, trustees raise concerns, creditors object, and a case that once felt manageable can start to feel unstable.
That situation is more common than many people realize. National bankruptcy filings continued rising in 2025, with the federal courts reporting 529,080 total filings in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025, up 13.1% from the prior year, and 542,529 filings in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2025, up 11.5% year over year. As filings increase, so do situations involving missed payments, amended schedules, objections, conversion, and dismissal. See the latest figures from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and its July 31, 2025 update.
In this post, you’ll learn the eight questions debtors often ask when a bankruptcy case starts going off track, what those questions usually involve, and where an attorney may add value when the case is no longer routine. If you want a broader foundation for understanding when cases change direction, this guide on what it looks like when a bankruptcy case gets converted or dismissed helps connect the bigger picture.
<aside> 💡 Scroll to the bottom for every post in this series.
</aside>
A bankruptcy case can start feeling shaky for a lot of reasons, and not all of them mean the same thing.
In a Chapter 13 case, one of the most common issues is failure to make plan payments. The federal judiciary’s Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics explains that if a debtor does not make payments due under the confirmed plan, the court may dismiss the case or convert it to Chapter 7 under 11 U.S.C. § 1307(c). The same source also notes that problems can arise if the debtor falls behind on post-filing domestic support obligations or fails to make required tax filings.
Sometimes the issue is more administrative than dramatic. A case may be at risk because:
For many debtors, “off track” does not automatically mean “over.” It often means the case has entered a more sensitive stage where procedural choices begin to matter more. That is one reason people often start asking whether a case can be fixed, modified, converted, or dismissed.
This is often the first fear people have, and it is understandable.
When a bankruptcy case is filed, the automatic stay generally goes into effect immediately. The Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School describes the stay as taking effect automatically upon filing, and the U.S. Courts’ bankruptcy basics page similarly explains that the stay arises by operation of law. In general terms, that pause can temporarily stop many collection actions, foreclosure steps, repossession efforts, wage garnishments, and lawsuits.