Chapter 7
Chapter 7, for debts you can’t repay
For people whose debts have outgrown their pay and who have little they’d have to give up.
A trustee reviews your papers, sells nothing you are allowed to keep, and about four months after filing the court usually enters the discharge. Collectors then may not ask you to pay what was cleared.
The means test compares your recent income with the median for your household size. Above it, a second calculation subtracts allowed expenses, and what is left decides whether Chapter 7 is open to you. We run both before you spend anything.
The flat fee covers
The means test and every form for the petition
A lawyer with you at the meeting with the trustee
Notice to creditors and, for a garnishment, your payroll office
Answers by phone or email until the discharge
What the court reads
The two columns a Chapter 7 weighs
The court never asks how you feel about the debts. It asks four plain things, and our first job is to answer them from your own papers.
What comes in
Your pay and any other income for the six months before filing, set against the median for a household your size. Under it, you pass the means test.
What you own
Each item is checked against the exemptions: the car, tools of your trade, household goods, a share of the home’s equity. Most people keep nearly all of it.
What can be cleared
Credit cards, medical bills, old personal loans and most collection accounts. We list every one, even a debt to a relative, so none is left out.
What stays
Child support, most student loans, recent taxes and a mortgage you want to keep. Chapter 7 doesn’t clear these, and we say so before you pay a fee.
Chapter 7 questions we hear most
01How many months until it is over?
About four months from filing to discharge for most cases. A trustee meeting comes a few weeks in, and it usually lasts a few minutes.
02Can I file if I’m behind on the mortgage?
Yes, but Chapter 7 only delays a foreclosure. If the goal is to keep the house, Chapter 13 is usually the better fit, and we compare the two for you.
03Do I pay the fee all at once?
No. The flat fee can be paid before filing in up to three installments, and the court’s filing fee can be paid in installments or, for lower incomes, waived on request.
See which column you’re in
On a free video call we run the means test with you and tell you if Chapter 7 is open to you.