The Cost of Filing Bankruptcy


The new bankruptcy laws have increased the cost to file due to the additional work attorneys, and those filing have to do in order to complete the petition, and have it accepted by the courts. Below you will find a breakdown of all the costs associated with filing bankruptcy.

Pre-Bankruptcy Credit Counseling - Every filer must complete a credit counseling course within 180 days before filing your petition. This course must be taken by an approved center and can usually be done online or over the phone. The course fee varies depending on the location, but the average cost is about $40.

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Bankruptcy Petition Preparation - The Federal Bankruptcy Code allows filers to choose to prepare their petition themselves, hire an attorney, or hire a non-attorney bankruptcy petition preparer (NABPP). If you plan on filing bankruptcy by yourself you will have to buy the official forms ($19.95), find free forms online ($0), or buy software that will help walk you through the process ($49.95). These costs are minimal, but if you are at all uncomfortable with completing your petition by yourself when filing bankruptcy, you will likely want to hire an attorney.

For a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the average cost for an attorney is $1500, and for Chapter 13 the average cost is now around $3500 due to the extensive paperwork and background checks that are needed to complete the petition. In some circumstances your attorney costs can be included in the filing, so it's important to investigate all your options. If you are knowledgeable about bankruptcy law but want a professionally prepared petition you can hire a NABPP. The average cost of an NABPP is $150 as it is typically set by each state, but some districts are extremely hard on filers who use NABPP's, as they view them as taking business from attorney's and may give you a hard time about your petition, even if everything is correct.

Bankruptcy Petition Filing Costs - Once your petition is prepared, there are court filing fees that must be submitted when you file your forms. There are options for pay in installments, and other options, but we won't discuss those here. The filing costs for petitions are $299 for a Ch 7 and $274 for a Ch 13.

Personal Financial Management Course - After your bankruptcy petition is filed you have one more fee to go. Once your forms are accepted you will get a notice in the mail that you need to complete the personal financial management course. Just like the credit counseling course, the cost will vary depending on the location of the course but the average cost is around $30.

Total Cost To File Bankruptcy - If you complete everything yourself you can file for as low as $369, and if you use an attorney, filing can cost you upwards of $3869 or more.


Cost Of Bankruptcy

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