To file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you fill out and file a packet of official federal forms that together describe what you own, what you owe, and what you earn, then submit them to the bankruptcy court for your judicial district with a $338 filing fee and your credit counseling certificate. Knowing how to fill out and file Chapter 7 bankruptcy forms starts with the Voluntary Petition (Form 101), continues through the schedules of assets, debts, income, and expenses, and ends with the means test forms that confirm you qualify. From filing to discharge usually runs about four months.
What to Do Before You Open a Form
You cannot file until you finish a credit counseling session with an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program. That session has to happen within 180 days before you file, and the agency issues a completion certificate that goes in with your paperwork.1United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses Skip the counseling and the court will dismiss your case.
Every schedule you sign is signed under penalty of perjury. Hiding assets or lying on a form is a federal crime carrying up to five years in prison.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery So gather the records first and fill the forms from documents, not memory:
- Pay stubs or other proof of income received within 60 days before filing. Pull six full months so you also have what you need for the means test.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 521 – Debtors Duties
- Your federal tax return for the most recent tax year ending before you file, including attachments. The trustee will ask for a copy at least seven days before your meeting of creditors.4United States Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors
- Statements for every checking, savings, money market, mutual fund, and brokerage account covering the filing date.
- Deeds, vehicle titles, and current market valuations for real estate, cars, and other significant property. Current market value, not purchase price.
- Account numbers, balances, and mailing addresses for every creditor you owe.
- Your credit counseling certificate.
Form 101: The Voluntary Petition
Official Form 101, the Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy, opens your case.5United States Courts. Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy You enter your full name, any other names you have used in the last eight years, the last four digits of your Social Security number, and your current address.6United States Courts. Official Form 101 Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy A married couple can file jointly on one petition.
You check the box for Chapter 7, indicate whether your debts are primarily consumer debts or business debts, confirm you have completed credit counseling, and disclose any pending bankruptcy case filed by a spouse, business partner, or affiliate. Fill in every field. Blank responses pull clerk follow-up and delay the case.
The Schedules: Your Financial Picture
After the petition comes the schedule set, which lays out everything you own, owe, earn, and spend. The individual-debtor schedules are posted on the U.S. Courts website.7United States Courts. Bankruptcy Forms If you file the petition first and submit schedules later, you have 14 days to deliver them.8Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1007
Schedules A/B and C: Property and Exemptions
Schedule A/B is a line-by-line inventory of everything you own or have an interest in: real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, household goods, clothing, electronics, retirement accounts, insurance policies, anything with value. Each item gets its current market value, meaning what a willing buyer would pay today. The trustee may push back on aggressive numbers.
Schedule C is where you claim exemptions to protect property from being sold. Exemption rules vary significantly by state. Some states let you choose between state and federal bankruptcy exemptions; others require state exemptions only. This schedule decides whether you keep your car, your home equity, and your retirement savings, and getting the election wrong is one of the costliest mistakes pro se filers make.
Schedules D, E/F, G, and H: Debts and Related Parties
Schedule D lists creditors with secured claims, meaning debts tied to collateral like a mortgage or car loan. For each, you give the creditor’s name and address, the collateral, the claim amount, and the value of the property securing it.
Schedule E/F covers unsecured creditors in two groups: priority claims such as certain tax debts and domestic support obligations, which get paid first and may survive discharge, and general unsecured claims like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans. Every creditor you want included in your discharge has to appear here. Leave a creditor off and that debt may not be discharged.9United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy
Schedule G lists executory contracts and unexpired leases: apartment leases, car leases, gym memberships, similar ongoing agreements. Schedule H identifies codebtors, meaning anyone else on the hook for your debts, like a cosigner.
Schedules I and J: Income and Expenses
Schedule I captures your current monthly income from every source: wages, self-employment, rental income, government benefits, pension, and regular contributions from household members. Schedule J breaks down current monthly expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, food, clothing, transportation, insurance, medical costs, childcare. The difference between the two shows the court your monthly surplus or shortfall.
Once the schedules are done, you sign the Declaration About an Individual Debtor’s Schedules, certifying under penalty of perjury that the information is true and complete.
Form 107: Statement of Financial Affairs
Official Form 107 is the backward-looking questionnaire.10United States Courts. Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy Where the schedules show a snapshot, Form 107 covers history. It asks for income for the current year, the previous full calendar year, and the year before that. It asks about payments to individual creditors over $600 in the 90 days before filing, payments to insiders such as relatives or business partners within the past year, property sold or transferred in the past two years, lawsuits, repossessions, foreclosures, and financial accounts closed in the past year. You also list every address where you lived in the past three years.
The trustee uses this form to spot preferential transfers, meaning payments or property shifts that unfairly favored one creditor right before filing. Paying off a $5,000 debt to a sibling two months before filing while ignoring credit cards is the kind of thing the trustee can claw back. Be thorough. Omissions on Form 107 are the fastest way to draw hard questions at the 341 meeting.
Form 108: Statement of Intention for Secured Property
If you have secured debts, Official Form 108 tells the court and your secured creditors what you plan to do with each piece of collateral. For each debt you choose one of:
- Surrender: give the property back and walk away from the debt.
- Reaffirm: sign a new agreement to keep paying as if the bankruptcy did not happen, keeping both the property and the obligation.
- Redeem: pay the creditor the current market value of the property in a single lump sum, which can save money when you owe more than the property is worth.
Form 108 is due within 30 days after you file your petition or by the date set for your meeting of creditors, whichever comes first.
Forms 122A-1 and 122A-2: The Means Test
The means test decides whether you qualify for Chapter 7 or belong in Chapter 13. Start with Official Form 122A-1, the Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income.11United States Courts. Official Form 122A-1 Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income
Add income from every source during the six full calendar months before your filing date, then divide by six. File on September 15, for example, and the six-month window runs March 1 through August 31. Include wages, salary, tips, bonuses, overtime, net business income, rental income, interest, dividends, pension and retirement payments, and regular contributions from anyone else toward household expenses. Social Security benefits are excluded.
Compare that monthly figure to the median family income for your state and household size. The U.S. Trustee Program publishes those medians and updates them periodically with Census Bureau data.12United States Department of Justice. Means Testing Below the median, you pass and go no further.
Above the median, you move to Official Form 122A-2, the Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation. This form subtracts allowed monthly expenses, based on national and local standards the U.S. Trustee Program derives from IRS and Census data, from your monthly income, and deducts actual payments on secured debts and priority claims. If what remains is low enough, you still qualify. If it is too high, a presumption of abuse arises and the court may dismiss your case or convert it to Chapter 13.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13 You can try to rebut that presumption with special circumstances, but the burden is on you.
Filing the Packet and Paying the Fee
With the packet complete, submit everything to the clerk of the bankruptcy court for the federal judicial district where you live. The filing fee for a Chapter 7 case is $338 in total. Most courts accept money orders or cashier’s checks; personal checks and credit cards depend on the district.
If you cannot afford the fee, Official Form 103A lets you apply to pay in installments over up to 120 days from your filing date. Official Form 103B lets you apply for a full waiver if your household income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.14United States Courts. Application to Have the Chapter 7 Filing Fee Waived You cannot use both; filing for installments is an agreement to pay the full amount eventually.
Attorneys file electronically through the court’s CM/ECF system. Some districts allow pro se electronic filing and some do not, so check with your local bankruptcy court clerk. Otherwise, deliver forms in person or send them by mail.
The moment the clerk processes your petition, the court assigns a case number and the automatic stay takes effect. The stay halts most collection activity against you, meaning wage garnishments stop, lawsuits freeze, and creditors cannot call for payment.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay It applies to almost all creditors, with limited exceptions for criminal proceedings, certain tax actions, and domestic support obligations.
Fixing Mistakes After Filing
Forgot a creditor, overlooked an asset, or entered a wrong number? You can amend most bankruptcy forms by checking the amendment box on the specific schedule, filing the corrected version with the court, and sending a copy to your trustee. Adding, removing, or reclassifying a creditor on Schedules D or E/F usually carries a $30 amendment fee, which the court can waive for good cause.
When you add a creditor, file an updated mailing matrix so the court can notify them, and do it early. Adding a creditor after your discharge is entered creates complications and may require reopening the case, which costs more and takes longer.
What Comes After the Forms
Filing the forms is not the finish line. Between 21 and 50 days after filing, the court schedules a meeting of creditors under Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code. The trustee runs it, not a judge. Bring a government-issued photo ID and proof of your Social Security number such as a Social Security card or a W-2 showing the full number, and get your most recent federal tax return, bank statements, and proof of income to the trustee at least seven days ahead.4United States Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors The trustee asks questions under oath to verify your forms, and the meeting usually takes ten to fifteen minutes when the paperwork is in order.
You also have to complete a debtor education course from a U.S. Trustee-approved provider, which is separate from the pre-filing counseling.1United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses The court will not grant your discharge until that certificate is on file. Most courses take about two hours and are available online.
When everything is in order, the court enters a discharge order roughly 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting, about four months after you filed. The discharge wipes out personal liability on qualifying debts.9United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy One boundary worth knowing before you file: Chapter 7 does not erase every debt. Child support, alimony, most student loans, recent income taxes, debts from fraud or willful injury, government fines, drunk driving injury debts, and creditors you failed to list generally survive.