To convert Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you file a notice of voluntary conversion in your existing case, pay a $10 fee, and submit updated schedules so a new Chapter 7 trustee can take over. Federal law gives you this right at almost any point in your Chapter 13, and the court does not need to approve it in advance. The harder questions are whether you will actually qualify for a Chapter 7 discharge once you get there, and whether property you have been protecting under your repayment plan will survive the switch.
Who Can Convert
A debtor in Chapter 13 can convert to Chapter 7 at any time, and any contract waiving that right is unenforceable.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 1307 – Conversion or Dismissal The conversion reuses your original case number rather than starting a new bankruptcy.
There is one hard limit. If your case was already converted into Chapter 13 from a different chapter (for example, you started in Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 and moved to Chapter 13), you cannot simply file a notice to convert back. The court treats that situation differently and may require a motion.
Courts also expect good faith. A conversion driven by a lost job, a medical crisis, or a lasting income drop is on solid ground. One timed to shield property you just acquired, or to dodge a creditor’s objection, can be challenged and even dismissed outright.
Will You Qualify for a Chapter 7 Discharge
Filing the notice is your right. Receiving a discharge at the end is a separate question with two major gates.
The Means Test
The means test compares your current monthly income to the median income for a household of your size in your state. Below the median, you pass. Above the median, you move to a detailed calculation of allowable expenses to show you lack enough disposable income to repay creditors. The U.S. Department of Justice publishes the median income figures and the Form 122A series used to run the numbers.2United States Department of Justice. Means Testing A debtor whose results suggest an ability to repay can face dismissal of the Chapter 7 case or involuntary reconversion back to Chapter 13.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13
The Eight-Year Discharge Bar
If you received a Chapter 7 discharge in a prior case, you cannot receive another one unless at least eight years have passed between the filing date of that earlier case and the filing date of your current case.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge The clock runs petition to petition, not from discharge date. You can still convert without clearing this bar, but you would go through the entire Chapter 7 process without a discharge at the end, which defeats the purpose for most people.
The Paperwork and the $10 Fee
The federal fee for a notice of conversion from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 is $10.5United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Some local courts add administrative charges, so confirm the total with your clerk.
You will file:
- A Notice of Voluntary Conversion. If your case has never been previously converted, this notice is all you need; no motion required.
- Updated Schedules I and J showing your current income and expenses, so the court and new trustee can see why Chapter 13 is no longer sustainable.
- Official Form 108, the Statement of Intention, if any creditors hold claims secured by your property. You use it to say whether you intend to keep each piece of collateral and reaffirm the debt or surrender it.6United States Courts. Official Form 108 – Statement of Intention for Individuals Filing Under Chapter 7
- The means test forms in the 122A series.2United States Department of Justice. Means Testing
- A schedule listing any debts you incurred after the original Chapter 13 filing.
Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1019 controls the deadlines. The schedule of post-petition debts is due within 14 days of the conversion order. The Statement of Intention is due within 30 days of the conversion order or before the first date set for the new meeting of creditors, whichever comes first.7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1019 – Converting or Reconverting a Chapter 11, 12, or 13 Case to Chapter 7 File updated income and expense schedules with the conversion notice so the new trustee can prepare for the 341 meeting.
What Happens to Your Property
This is where most debtors underestimate the stakes. In a good-faith conversion, the bankruptcy estate consists of property you owned on the original petition date that you still have on the conversion date.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 348 – Effect of Conversion Property you acquired after filing Chapter 13 generally stays outside the estate. Exemptions are measured as of your original filing date, so the amounts you claimed then still apply.
That sounds protective, but two things cut against you. First, any cramdown valuations from your Chapter 13 plan do not carry over. If the court reduced a car loan balance to the vehicle’s lower value under your plan, that reduction evaporates upon conversion and the original secured claim springs back to life.9Justia Law. 11 USC 348 – Effect of Conversion The same goes for mortgage arrears. If you had not fully cured a prepetition default under the plan at the time of conversion, the default reasserts itself under state law.
Second, if the court finds you converted in bad faith, the estate instead includes everything you own as of the conversion date, pulling in wages earned, equity appreciation, and assets acquired during the whole Chapter 13 period.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 348 – Effect of Conversion For a homeowner whose property gained significant equity during a three-year plan, a bad-faith finding can mean the Chapter 7 trustee sells the house.
The practical point: Chapter 13 let you keep non-exempt assets as long as you kept making plan payments. Chapter 7 does not. If you have non-exempt equity in a home, car, or other asset, converting puts that property at real risk of liquidation.
Debts That Survive the Switch
Chapter 13 has a broader discharge than Chapter 7, and converting means giving up that advantage for specific categories of debt. Chapter 13 can discharge debts for willful and malicious damage to property (not injury to a person), debts incurred to pay nondischargeable tax obligations, and debts arising from property settlements in a divorce or separation proceeding.10United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics Under Chapter 7, all three survive and remain your responsibility.
Chapter 7 also leaves intact the standard nondischargeable categories: recent tax obligations where the return was filed late or fraudulently, government fines and penalties that are not compensation for actual financial loss, and student loans absent a showing of undue hardship.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Before you convert, look at the makeup of your debt. If a significant share falls into a category only Chapter 13 can reach, converting may leave you worse off even though the process is faster.
Post-Petition Debts and Payments Already Made
Debts you ran up after the original Chapter 13 filing but before the conversion date are treated as if they existed on the day you originally filed.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 348 – Effect of Conversion Those creditors are pulled into the Chapter 7 case and those debts become eligible for discharge. This is why the 14-day schedule of post-petition debts matters: miss it and those creditors may not receive notice, which can complicate your discharge.
Money you already paid into the Chapter 13 plan does not come back to you. Payments the trustee already distributed to creditors stay distributed. For funds the Chapter 13 trustee is still holding at conversion, the trustee typically distributes them to creditors with allowed claims after deducting administrative expenses. If your Chapter 13 plan was never confirmed, the trustee returns any undisbursed payments to you after deducting unpaid administrative costs.12United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics The months or years of payments you made reduce what you owed, but they do not generate a refund in most conversions.
After the Conversion Order
Conversion triggers the appointment of a Chapter 7 trustee who replaces your Chapter 13 trustee. The new trustee reviews your assets, identifies anything non-exempt, and sells it to pay creditors. The U.S. Trustee schedules a new 341 meeting of creditors, where you answer questions under oath about your finances and filings.13United States Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors Most 341 meetings are now held virtually. Creditors have 60 days from the first date set for this new meeting to object to your discharge or to challenge the dischargeability of specific debts.10United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics
The automatic stay from your original Chapter 13 filing continues through conversion, so creditors still cannot pursue foreclosures, repossessions, wage garnishments, or lawsuits unless the court lifts the stay.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay
Before the court can grant a Chapter 7 discharge, you must complete a personal financial management course (sometimes called debtor education) and file the certificate with the court.15United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses If you already took the course during Chapter 13, ask your attorney or the clerk whether that certificate still counts; some courts require a fresh one for the Chapter 7 phase.
If no creditor objects and the trustee finds no non-exempt assets to liquidate, the discharge typically arrives shortly after the 60-day objection window closes. In a straightforward case, that can be within three to four months of the conversion date.