Forms 122C-1 and 122C-2 are the two-part Chapter 13 means test, and filling them out means working through six months of household income on the first form, comparing that income to your state median to set your plan length, then (if you’re above median) subtracting IRS-standard expenses on the second form to arrive at the monthly disposable income your plan must pay unsecured creditors. Both forms are free downloads from the U.S. Courts website and are filed with your bankruptcy petition or shortly after.
What You Need Before You Open the Forms
Both forms rely on your financial history over the six full calendar months before you file. Pull together every record of income you received during that window: gross wages before taxes, net business income, rental income, interest and dividends, pension and retirement income, and any regular contributions a third party makes toward your household expenses. A catch-all line covers anything else, such as alimony or royalty payments.1United States Courts. Official Form 122C-2 – Chapter 13 Calculation of Your Disposable Income
One major exclusion: Social Security benefits do not count as current monthly income on these forms. The Bankruptcy Code’s definition specifically carves out “benefits received under the Social Security Act,” so you leave those off entirely.1United States Courts. Official Form 122C-2 – Chapter 13 Calculation of Your Disposable Income If Social Security is your primary income, this exclusion can significantly lower your calculated income and shorten your required plan length.
If you’re married, you must report your spouse’s income regardless of whether your spouse is filing with you. A joint petition combines both incomes. Even when only one spouse files, the non-filing spouse’s income still goes on the form so the court and trustee can see the full household picture.2United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics
You’ll also want your most recent tax returns and pay stubs covering the 60 days before filing. The Chapter 13 Trustee will require these before your meeting of creditors, and some trustees won’t hold the meeting without them.2United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics
Filling Out Form 122C-1
Form 122C-1 has two jobs: calculate your current monthly income and determine whether your applicable commitment period is three years or five. Download the most recent version from the U.S. Courts forms page at uscourts.gov.3United States Department of Justice. Means Testing
Calculating Current Monthly Income
Part 1 walks you through each income category line by line. For each source, enter the total received over the six calendar months before filing, then divide by six to get a monthly average. If you’re married, the form has separate columns for your income and your spouse’s income. Business and rental income are reported as gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary operating expenses, not gross revenue alone.1United States Courts. Official Form 122C-2 – Chapter 13 Calculation of Your Disposable Income
Child support you receive is a nuanced item. It doesn’t count as “income” in the traditional sense, but it does count as current monthly income on the form if someone pays it on a regular basis for your household expenses or your dependents’ expenses. Alimony and spousal support always count as income regardless of how or when you receive them.1United States Courts. Official Form 122C-2 – Chapter 13 Calculation of Your Disposable Income
The Marital Adjustment for Non-Filing Spouses
If you’re married but filing alone, Line 13 lets you subtract the portion of your spouse’s income that goes toward expenses unrelated to your household. Qualifying deductions include your spouse’s own tax liability, student loan payments, credit card minimums on their personal accounts, child support or alimony owed to someone outside your household, retirement loan repayments, and car payments on a vehicle your spouse owns and drives.
You need documentation for every dollar you claim. Bank statements, billing records, and account statements showing the non-filing spouse’s monthly obligations are what the trustee will want to see. One trap: if your non-filing spouse makes car payments on a vehicle that you drive, those payments must be taken as a marital adjustment rather than listed as a transportation expense elsewhere on the form.
Comparing Your Income to the State Median
After calculating combined current monthly income (minus the marital adjustment, if applicable), the form multiplies it by 12 for an annualized figure. You then compare that number against the median family income for a household of your size in your state. The U.S. Trustee Program publishes these median figures, updated periodically using Census Bureau data. The most recent data applies to cases filed on or after April 1, 2026.4U.S. Trustee Program. Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size
Household size determines which figure applies. For households of one through four, you compare against the median for that exact size. For households larger than four, take the four-person median and add $925 per month for each additional person.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1322 – Contents of Plan Getting household size right matters enormously; a single person off the count can swing the comparison by thousands of dollars.
What the Median Comparison Decides
The comparison controls how long your repayment plan will last. If your annualized income falls below the state median for your household size, your plan runs three years. If it meets or exceeds the median, you’re locked into five years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1322 – Contents of Plan There’s no gray area: one dollar over the median triggers the longer commitment.
Below-median filers can ask the court to approve a plan lasting up to five years “for cause,” but they can’t be forced into one. Above-median filers have no discretion in the other direction. The only way an above-median filer can end a plan before five years is by paying all allowed unsecured claims in full before the clock runs out.2United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics
Filling Out Form 122C-2
Form 122C-2 picks up where 122C-1 leaves off, but only above-median filers complete it in full. The form calculates monthly disposable income, meaning the amount left over after subtracting allowed expenses from current monthly income. That surplus is what you must pay unsecured creditors each month through your plan.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 1325 – Confirmation of Plan
Above-Median Filers Use IRS Standards
If you’re above the median, allowed expense deductions come from IRS National and Local Standards rather than your actual spending. National Standards set fixed monthly amounts for food, housekeeping supplies, clothing, personal care, and out-of-pocket healthcare costs. You get the full standard amount for your household size without needing to justify how much you actually spend on groceries or shampoo.7Internal Revenue Service. National Standards: Food, Clothing and Other Items
Local Standards cover housing, utilities, and transportation, and they vary by county. Your allowed housing and utility deduction depends on where you live and your household size, while transportation splits into ownership costs (car payments) and operating costs (gas, insurance, maintenance). These figures come from Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, broken down to the county level.8Internal Revenue Service. Collection Financial Standards
The standardized amounts sometimes exceed what you actually spend, which works in your favor by reducing calculated disposable income. Other times they fall short of your real costs. Either way, the form uses the standards, not reality. Additional deduction lines cover taxes, mandatory payroll deductions, health insurance, disability insurance, childcare, education expenses for dependent children, and contributions to the care of elderly or chronically ill family members.
Below-Median Filers Use Actual Expenses
Below-median filers take a different path. Instead of the IRS standards, allowed expenses are based on what you actually spend, as reported on Schedule J of your bankruptcy petition. Courts evaluate each claimed expense on a case-by-case basis to determine whether it’s reasonably necessary for the maintenance or support of you and your dependents.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1325 – Confirmation of Plan A below-median filer with high actual expenses may end up with little or no disposable income, even if an above-median filer with the same spending patterns would show a surplus under the standardized test.
What the Final Number Means
If Form 122C-2 produces zero or a negative number, you may only need to pay enough to cover administrative fees and any arrears on secured debts like a mortgage or car loan. A positive number establishes the minimum monthly payment to unsecured creditors. Multiply that figure by your commitment period (36 or 60 months), and you have the baseline amount your plan must distribute to credit card companies, medical providers, and other unsecured claimants. The court won’t confirm a plan that pays less than this amount if the trustee or any unsecured creditor objects.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 1325 – Confirmation of Plan
Filing the Forms
The completed 122C forms are filed with the bankruptcy court where your case is pending, typically as part of your initial petition package. Attorneys file electronically through the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system.10United States Courts. Electronic Filing (CM/ECF) If you’re representing yourself, you can’t use CM/ECF and must deliver or mail paper copies to the clerk’s office.11United States Bankruptcy Court. Filing Without an Attorney
The filing fee for a Chapter 13 petition is $313, which covers the case filing fee and an administrative fee.12United States Bankruptcy Court. Filing Fees for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 You can ask to pay in installments if you can’t afford the full amount upfront, but the court can’t waive the fee entirely in Chapter 13 cases.
Mistakes That Trigger Objections
The most damaging errors tend to be straightforward: wrong household size, income from a source left off entirely, or using an outdated median income table. Any of these can shift you from below-median to above-median (or vice versa), changing your commitment period and the amount you owe unsecured creditors. The Trustee’s office reviews these forms carefully and spots inconsistencies quickly.
Retirement contributions are another area where filers stumble. Voluntary 401(k) or 403(b) contributions may feel like a fixed expense, but courts have generally treated them as disposable income when unsecured creditors are not being paid in full. The reasoning is that saving for retirement, while financially responsible, is not “reasonably necessary” for current maintenance or support under the statute’s definition.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1325 – Confirmation of Plan If your plan doesn’t pay unsecured creditors in full, expect the trustee to challenge those contributions.
Tax refunds can also become a point of contention. Many trustees view large annual refunds as disposable income that should go into the plan, especially if your withholding consistently exceeds your actual tax liability. Adjusting your W-4 to reduce over-withholding before filing can head off this dispute.
Consequences of Inaccurate or Fraudulent Filings
Honest mistakes on the 122C forms can usually be fixed by filing amended documents. Deliberate misrepresentations are a different matter. Under 11 U.S.C. ยง 1307(c), a court can dismiss a Chapter 13 case for “cause,” which includes bad faith filings and conduct that prejudices creditors. In serious cases, the court may dismiss with prejudice, barring you from filing any bankruptcy petition for a set period, sometimes two years or more.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1322 – Contents of Plan Patterns of abusive filings, failure to make plan payments, and proposing a plan your own schedules show you can’t afford are all factors courts weigh.
The forms themselves include a declaration you sign under penalty of perjury. Intentionally understating income or inflating expenses is not just a procedural problem; it exposes you to potential criminal liability for bankruptcy fraud. The trustee’s office has access to your tax transcripts and can cross-check the numbers you report.