Filing order for Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13

chapter 7 vs chapter 13 does not come with a filing date printed on the bills. The Chapter 7 basics page and the Chapter 13 basics page still use the same order: counseling, petition, stay, then a meeting with the trustee.

Take credit counseling first

No individual may be a debtor under any chapter unless, within 180 days before filing, they received credit counseling from an approved agency, in a one-on-one or group briefing. Do I need credit counseling before I file? covers the exceptions and the separate course you take after you file.

If a debt management plan comes out of that briefing, it has to be filed with the court.

The U.S. Trustee Program list is the place to find an approved agency. Alabama and North Carolina use bankruptcy administrators instead of the U.S. Trustee Program.

Decide whether you are filing at all

The Chapter 7 page says out-of-court agreements with creditors or debt counseling can be an alternative to a filing. You can also file without a lawyer. The Filing Without an Attorney page allows that and still says a qualified attorney is strongly recommended, because a mistake can affect your rights. Court employees and judges cannot give legal advice.

How to choose a bankruptcy lawyer is the checklist for that call, including the partner who may contact you through this site.

Chapter 7 or Chapter 13

What's the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13? is the side-by-side. The short version from the two basics pages is this.

Chapter 7 is a liquidation case. A trustee gathers property that is not exempt and can sell it to pay creditors. Many individual cases have no assets to sell. A discharge, when the court grants one, usually arrives 60 to 90 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.

Chapter 13 is a repayment plan for an individual with regular income. You propose installments over three to five years. If your current monthly income is under the state median, the plan is three years unless the court approves a longer period for cause. If it is over the median, the plan is generally five years. It cannot run longer than five years.

The means test

If your debts are primarily consumer debts and your current monthly income is over the state median, Chapter 7 requires a means test. Abuse is presumed if that income over five years, after certain allowed expenses and secured payments, is not less than the lesser of 25 percent of your nonpriority unsecured debt or $10,275, whichever is greater, or $17,150.

Those dollar figures are the ones on the Chapter 7 basics page. The means testing site holds the Census median-income tables and the IRS expense standards used on Official Forms 122A and 122C. The expense tables that apply to cases filed on or after July 15, 2026 are in the July 2026 update.

Current monthly income is the average over the six calendar months before the case starts. It includes regular contributions to household expenses from people who are not debtors, and a spouse's income on a joint petition. It does not include Social Security income.

What it costs the court

The Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, effective December 1, 2023, sets the administrative fee at $78 for a Chapter 7, 12, or 13 petition, and a $15 trustee surcharge for Chapter 7. Added to the statutory filing fees in 28 U.S.C. § 1930, that is $338 to start a Chapter 7 case and $313 to start a Chapter 13 case.

Individual debtors may ask to pay in up to four installments, with the last due no later than 120 days after filing, or 180 days if the court extends it. In Chapter 7, the court may waive the fees if your income is under 150 percent of the poverty line and you cannot pay even in installments.

A joint petition pays one set of fees, not two.

File the petition

A case starts when the petition reaches the bankruptcy court for the area where you live. You also file schedules of assets and liabilities, current income and expenses, a statement of financial affairs, and a schedule of executory contracts and leases. Consumer filers add the counseling certificate, employer payment evidence for the 60 days before filing, a statement of monthly net income, and any interest in a qualified education account.

The official forms are on uscourts.gov. The court does not sell them.

The automatic stay

Filing the petition stays most collection against you or your property. Creditors generally may not continue lawsuits, wage garnishments, or payment-demand calls. Will filing bankruptcy stop collection calls? lists what the stay does not stop.

The meeting of creditors

In Chapter 7, the trustee holds the meeting of creditors (the 341 meeting) 21 to 40 days after the petition, or up to 60 days if the location has no regular U.S. trustee staffing. In Chapter 13 the window is 21 to 50 days. You have to attend and answer questions under oath. Both spouses attend a joint case. Judges are not allowed in the room.

The trustee will ask whether you understand the effect of a discharge, the effect on credit, and what it means to reaffirm a debt.

What you can keep

Federal law lets you protect some property as exempt. Many states have replaced the federal list with their own. Whether a house, a car, or a bank account is exempt is often a question of the state where you live. Will I lose my house if I file Chapter 7? walks through the home-specific rules, including how Chapter 13 treats a foreclosure.

The discharge, and what it does not cover

A Chapter 7 discharge releases an individual from personal liability for most debts. It does not wipe out a lien. Debts that generally survive include alimony and child support, certain taxes, most government-backed student loans, debts for willful and malicious injury, DUI death or injury, and certain criminal restitution. The Chapter 7 page says that, excluding cases that are dismissed or converted, individual debtors receive a discharge in more than 99 percent of Chapter 7 cases. That is a historical figure from U.S. Courts, not a promise about your case.

A Chapter 13 discharge usually comes after you finish the plan payments, certify that support coming due is paid, complete a financial-management course, and stay outside the waiting periods from a prior discharge.

Questions people ask next

• What's the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13?
• Will filing bankruptcy stop collection calls?
• Do I need credit counseling before I file?
• Will I lose my house if I file Chapter 7?