The filing process, step by step

The short version

A bankruptcy case has the same shape in every court: a course, a stack of forms, a filing, one meeting, a second course, and a discharge. Chapter 7 gets through all of it in about four months. Chapter 13 has the same opening steps and then three to five years of payments before the discharge.

The deadlines below come from the Bankruptcy Code and the federal rules, as of October 2026.

Step 1: Credit counseling

The first requirement comes before any forms. Every individual filer completes a credit counseling course from an approved provider within the 180 days before filing. It takes about an hour online or by phone and ends with a certificate. That certificate gets filed with the court. A petition filed without the course is usually dismissed.

Step 2: The paperwork

This is most of the work. The forms ask for a full picture of your finances: everything you own, everyone you owe, what you earn, what you spend, and what's happened with your money over the last few years. The main national forms are:

• The petition (Form 101), which opens the case.
• The schedules (Forms 106A/B through 106J), covering property, exemptions, debts, contracts, co-signers, income, and expenses.
• The Statement of Financial Affairs (Form 107), which covers recent income, payments, transfers, and lawsuits.
• The Means Test forms: 122A-1 for Chapter 7, 122C-1 for Chapter 13.
• The Statement of Intention (Form 108), in Chapter 7, for debts secured by property.
• The Social Security number statement (Form 121), which the court keeps off the public record.
• The creditor matrix, a mailing list of every creditor.

Your court adds its own local forms to that list, and Chapter 13 adds the repayment plan.

The forms are signed under penalty of perjury. The source documents behind them are pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, loan statements, and a credit report.

Step 3: Filing

The forms go to the clerk of the bankruptcy court for your district, along with the filing fee or a request to pay in installments or have it waived. How a self-filer delivers them depends on the court: in person, by mail, or through an online upload tool where one exists.

The clerk assigns a case number, and the automatic stay starts at that moment. Creditors have to stop collection calls, lawsuits, garnishments, and foreclosure sales.

The petition and the creditor list have to go in on day one. The schedules and statements can follow within 14 days. Missing that deadline gets a case dismissed.

Step 4: The trustee

The court appoints a trustee to the case within days. The trustee reviews the paperwork and sends a notice with the date of the 341 meeting. The notice goes to every creditor on the matrix too.

A copy of your most recent federal tax return is due to the trustee at least seven days before the meeting. Most trustees also ask for pay stubs and bank statements, and each one posts or mails their own list.

Step 5: The 341 meeting

This is the one appearance nearly every filer makes. It's held 21 to 40 days after filing in Chapter 7, and 21 to 50 days after in Chapter 13. In most districts it happens by video.

It isn't a court hearing and there's no judge. The trustee checks a photo ID and proof of your Social Security number, swears you in, and asks questions about the forms: whether they're accurate, whether anything was left out, whether anything has changed. Creditors are allowed to attend and ask questions. They rarely do. Most meetings last under ten minutes.

Step 6: Debtor education

The second course is about personal financial management, and it's taken after filing. The deadline depends on the chapter:

• Chapter 7: within 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting.
• Chapter 13: before the last plan payment.

Without the certificate on file, the court closes the case with no discharge. This is one of the most common ways a self-filed case goes wrong at the very end.

Step 7: The path to discharge

Chapter 7

Creditors and the trustee have 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting to object to the discharge. In most consumer cases nobody objects. Once that window closes, the court enters the discharge order, typically about four months after filing.

During this stretch, filers with a car loan or mortgage carry out what they stated on Form 108. That means keeping up the payments, signing a reaffirmation agreement, or giving the property back.

Chapter 13

The plan is due within 14 days of filing and the first payment within 30. A judge holds a confirmation hearing no later than 45 days after the 341 meeting. Once the plan is confirmed, payments continue for three to five years, and the discharge comes after the last one. More in What is Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

Step 8: The case closes

After the discharge, the trustee files a final report and the court closes the case. The discharge order arrives by mail or email. It's the document that proves the debts are gone, and lenders ask to see it for years afterward.

What comes next is in Life after discharge.