A bankruptcy petition is the formal document that opens a case under federal bankruptcy law. Filing one with the bankruptcy court clerk produces an immediate order for relief, puts you under court protection through the automatic stay, and commits you to resolving your debts through either Chapter 7 liquidation or a Chapter 13 repayment plan. The petition itself is the cover sheet of a much larger package of schedules, statements, and certifications the court needs to run your case.
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13
The petition asks you to pick a chapter of the Bankruptcy Code, and that choice shapes everything after it. Chapter 7 wipes out most unsecured debts in exchange for surrendering non-exempt property to a court-appointed trustee, who sells it to pay creditors. Most Chapter 7 cases close in three to four months. Chapter 13 lets you keep your property while repaying some or all of what you owe over a three-to-five-year plan.
Both chapters use the same core petition form and the same financial disclosures. The key difference at the filing stage is that Chapter 7 filers have to pass an income-based means test; Chapter 13 filers do not.
What Goes Into the Petition Package
The cover document is Official Form 101, the Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy. It collects your identifying information, the chapter you’re filing under, and summary estimates of your total assets, liabilities, and number of creditors.1U.S. Courts. Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
Federal law then requires a detailed financial picture. Under 11 U.S.C. § 521, you must file a list of all creditors, a schedule of assets and liabilities, a schedule of current income and expenditures, and a statement of your financial affairs.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 521 – Debtor’s Duties You also need copies of all pay stubs or other payment evidence received within 60 days before filing, a statement of monthly net income showing how it was calculated, and a disclosure of any anticipated changes to your income or expenses over the following 12 months.
That raw data lands on a set of standardized schedules:
- Schedule A/B: all real and personal property you own or have an interest in, with estimated values.
- Schedule C: property you claim as exempt from liquidation.
- Schedule D: creditors holding secured claims, such as mortgages and car loans.
- Schedule E/F: unsecured claims, split between priority debts (like taxes and child support) and general unsecured debts (credit cards, medical bills).
- Schedule G: executory contracts and unexpired leases.
- Schedule H: anyone who co-signed or guaranteed your debts.
- Schedule I: your current income.
- Schedule J: your current monthly expenses.
On top of the schedules, you file Official Form 107, the Statement of Financial Affairs. This one looks backward at your recent financial history: income from the past two calendar years plus the current year to date, payments to creditors totaling $600 or more in the 90 days before filing, transfers of property within the past two years, and payments to insiders such as relatives or business partners within the past year.3U.S. Courts. Official Form 107 – Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy The trustee uses these disclosures to spot transactions that might be reversed to recover money for creditors.
Gathering the underlying information before you touch the official forms saves real headaches. On the asset side, you’ll need values for real property, vehicles, household goods, bank accounts, retirement accounts, and any interest in a business or trust. On the debt side, you need every creditor’s name, address, account number, and the amount owed.
Credit Counseling Comes First
You cannot file a bankruptcy petition unless you’ve completed a credit counseling briefing from an approved nonprofit agency within the 180 days before your filing date.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 109 – Who May Be a Debtor The briefing can be done by phone, online, or in person, and it covers alternatives to bankruptcy along with a budget analysis. You receive a certificate afterward that must be filed with your petition. File without it and the case gets dismissed.
A narrow exception exists if you certify to the court that exigent circumstances prevented you from completing counseling and that you tried but couldn’t get an appointment within seven days. Even then, you must finish counseling within 30 days of filing, with a possible 15-day extension for cause.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
The Means Test for Chapter 7
Chapter 7 is not available to everyone. If your income sits above your state’s median for a household of your size, the law presumes that filing Chapter 7 would be an abuse of the system. You run this calculation on Official Form 122A-1, which takes your gross income from the six months before filing, doubles it to an annualized figure, and compares it against the applicable state median.5United States Courts. Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income
Below the median, you pass. Above it, you move to the second part of the test, where you subtract certain allowed expenses from your monthly income and multiply the remainder by 60 to project disposable income over five years. A presumption of abuse arises when that projected figure equals or exceeds the lesser of 25 percent of your nonpriority unsecured debts (or $10,275, whichever is greater) or $17,150.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13 Those dollar figures were last adjusted in April 2025.7Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases Rebutting the presumption is difficult and generally requires showing special circumstances such as a serious medical condition or military service.
Filing Fees
The statutory filing fee for a Chapter 7 case is $245, and for Chapter 13 it’s $235.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees A $78 administrative fee applies to both, plus a $15 trustee surcharge on Chapter 7 cases, bringing the totals to $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13.
If you can’t pay upfront, you can apply to pay in installments using Official Form 103A. Full fee waivers are available only in Chapter 7 cases, and only when your household income falls below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Chapter 13 filers can spread payments out but cannot get the fee waived entirely. Without the fee or a fee application, the clerk won’t docket the case.
You can deliver the package to the clerk in person, by mail, or through an electronic filing portal. Many courts run an upload system built for people filing without an attorney.
Emergency Skeletal Filings
When you need protection right away and haven’t finished the full paperwork, federal rules allow an emergency skeletal filing. You submit just the petition (Form 101), a list of creditors with mailing addresses, your Social Security number statement, the credit counseling certificate (or a request for a waiver), and the filing fee or fee application. This bare-bones filing triggers the automatic stay immediately.
The catch is the deadline: you have exactly 14 days from the petition date to file all remaining schedules, statements, and supporting documents.9Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1007 – Lists, Schedules, Statements, and Other Documents Miss it and the court can dismiss your case, which means losing the automatic stay you filed to get. If you’re filing a skeleton petition to stop a foreclosure sale next week, you need a realistic plan for finishing the rest of the paperwork inside two weeks.
What Happens the Moment You File
The instant the clerk dockets your petition, the automatic stay goes into effect. It halts virtually all collection activity against you and your property. Creditors must stop calling, lawsuits pause, wage garnishments cease, and scheduled foreclosures and repossessions go on hold.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Creditors who knowingly violate the stay can face court sanctions, including fines and an obligation to pay damages.
The stay is not absolute. Federal law carves out several categories of actions that continue anyway. Criminal proceedings against you are not stopped. Family law matters, including paternity, child custody, visitation, domestic support obligations, and divorce proceedings (other than property division), all proceed normally. Government agencies enforcing regulatory or police powers can also continue their actions.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay Secured creditors like a mortgage lender can also file a motion asking the court to lift the stay if their collateral is losing value and isn’t adequately protected.
The 341 Meeting of Creditors
Between 21 and 40 days after your petition is docketed, the court schedules a meeting of creditors, called the 341 meeting after the Bankruptcy Code section that requires it. Despite the name, creditors rarely appear. The real audience is the bankruptcy trustee assigned to your case, who questions you under oath about the accuracy of your petition and schedules.
Expect straightforward but probing questions. Did you review your petition before signing it? Did you list all of your assets and all of your creditors? Have you transferred any property in the past two years? Have you filed all required tax returns? How did you value your home and car? The trustee is looking for omissions, inconsistencies, and any sign that assets were hidden or moved before filing. Bring a government-issued photo ID and proof of your Social Security number. If the trustee spots problems, they may continue the meeting to a later date or request more documentation.
What You Get to Keep
Filing a petition doesn’t mean losing everything. Exemption laws shield certain property from liquidation. Federal law gives you a choice between the federal exemptions listed in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) and your state’s exemption system, though roughly a third of states have opted out of the federal exemptions, forcing residents to use the state list.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 522 – Exemptions In states that allow both, you pick one system for the entire case. You can’t mix and match.
Under the federal system, the homestead exemption currently protects up to $31,575 in equity in your primary residence, and a wildcard exemption covers up to $16,850 in any property of your choosing.7Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases State systems vary widely. Some states offer unlimited homestead protection (subject to acreage limits), while others cap it at a few thousand dollars. The exemptions you claim are listed on Schedule C, and the trustee reviews them closely. Any property value above your exemption limits becomes available to satisfy creditor claims in a Chapter 7 case.
If you acquired your homestead within 1,215 days (roughly three and a half years) before filing, federal law caps the exemption at $189,050 regardless of what state law allows, unless the equity came from a prior homestead in the same state.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 522 – Exemptions
Debtor Education Before Discharge
Filing the petition and attending the 341 meeting does not automatically produce a discharge. Federal law requires a second educational course, separate from the pre-filing credit counseling, called a debtor education or personal financial management course. You must complete it from an approved provider and file the certificate with the court before you can receive a discharge in either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case. Skip it and the case stays open, and can ultimately close without any debt being discharged. The course covers budgeting, money management, and using credit responsibly, and typically runs about two hours online.
Consequences of a Dishonest Filing
Every form in the petition package is signed under penalty of perjury. Federal criminal law makes it a felony to knowingly and fraudulently make a false oath or conceal assets in a bankruptcy case, punishable by up to five years in prison.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery
Even short of criminal prosecution, the civil consequences are steep. The court will deny your discharge entirely if you knowingly made a false oath, presented a false claim, or withheld records about your property or financial affairs.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge A denied discharge means you went through the entire process, possibly surrendered property, and still owe every dollar. If a discharge has already been granted, the court can revoke it after discovering fraud. Honest mistakes happen, and trustees generally understand that. Deliberate omissions, especially hiding an asset or failing to disclose a recent property transfer, will unravel the case.