If you’re thinking about filing bankruptcy, five people or organizations handle different pieces of the process, and federal law dictates who you have to talk to first. Before any petition can be filed, you must complete a briefing with an approved nonprofit credit counseling agency. After that, the question of who to talk to about filing bankruptcy comes down to what you need: legal advice from a bankruptcy attorney (or legal aid if you qualify), form-typing help from a petition preparer, or procedural information from the court clerk’s office. A trustee enters the picture once your case is filed. Knowing what each one can and cannot do keeps you from paying for advice from someone who legally cannot give it, or skipping a step that gets your case dismissed.
Start With an Approved Credit Counseling Agency
Federal bankruptcy law requires every individual filer to complete a credit counseling briefing from an approved nonprofit agency within the 180 days before filing the petition.1United States Bankruptcy Court. Notice to All Debtors About Prepetition Credit Counseling Requirement Skip it, or let the certificate expire, and the court will dismiss your case before it moves forward.
The session reviews your overall financial picture and walks through alternatives such as debt management plans and consolidated repayment. You can take it by phone, online, or in person.1United States Bankruptcy Court. Notice to All Debtors About Prepetition Credit Counseling Requirement Most sessions run 60 to 90 minutes and cost between $10 and $50. Agencies must offer fee waivers if you genuinely cannot pay.
At the end, the agency issues a certificate of completion. That certificate gets filed with your petition, and the court won’t accept the petition without it. Use the U.S. Trustee Program’s list on the Department of Justice website to find an approved agency in your judicial district.2United States Department of Justice. List of Credit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant to 11 USC 111 Agencies not on that list cannot issue a certificate the court will accept.
There’s a second course too, after filing. The post-filing debtor education course must be completed before the court will discharge your debts, and in a Chapter 7 case the completion certificate has to be filed within 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.3U.S. Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses Many agencies that handle the pre-filing briefing offer this course as well.
A Bankruptcy Attorney for Legal Advice
A bankruptcy attorney is the only person in the process who can give you legal advice about your specific situation. Their core job is figuring out whether you belong in Chapter 7, where most unsecured debts are wiped out quickly, or Chapter 13, where you repay creditors over three to five years. That turns on the means test, which compares your average monthly income over the past six months against the median income for a household your size in your state. Below median generally means Chapter 7 qualifies; above median usually points to a Chapter 13 repayment plan.4United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics
Getting this wrong is expensive. Filing under the wrong chapter can waste your filing fee, delay relief, and lead the court to convert or dismiss your case. Attorneys also help you claim the exemptions that let you keep as much property as the law allows.
When an attorney signs your petition, that signature is a legal certification: the attorney has independently reviewed your financial records, confirmed the schedules are accurate, and confirmed the case isn’t being filed for an improper purpose.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13 If the court later finds the filing violated its rules, the attorney can be sanctioned personally. That accountability is part of what the fee buys.
What Attorneys Charge
Chapter 7 attorney fees typically run between $1,200 and $2,500, depending on location and how complicated your finances are. Simple cases with ordinary debts and few assets fall at the lower end. Business assets, pending lawsuits, or disputed exemptions push fees higher. These fees usually cover everything through the meeting of creditors and discharge.
Chapter 13 fees are higher because the work extends across the entire three-to-five-year plan. Most districts set a “no-look” fee, a presumptively reasonable amount approved without detailed billing, typically in the $3,000 to $6,000 range. One practical advantage: in Chapter 13, attorney fees can be folded into the repayment plan, so you don’t need the full amount upfront.
Chapter 7 works differently. Because the filing wipes out most pre-petition debts, any unpaid attorney fees would be discharged too, turning the lawyer into just another creditor. Most Chapter 7 attorneys therefore require payment in full before filing.
Legal Aid or Pro Bono Help
If a private attorney is out of reach, legal aid may be an option. Organizations funded through the Legal Services Corporation represent people whose household income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines.6eCFR. 45 CFR Part 1611 – Financial Eligibility For 2026, that works out to roughly $19,950 a year for a single person or $41,250 for a family of four.7HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
Local bar associations also keep lists of attorneys who volunteer time for pro bono bankruptcy cases. These programs tend to prioritize people facing foreclosure or with basic survival needs at stake. If you qualify, you get real legal representation: help completing the forms, interpreting court notices, and appearing at hearings. The drawback is availability. Demand outstrips capacity, and wait times can stretch for weeks.
Bankruptcy Petition Preparers (Not Legal Advisors)
Petition preparers are non-attorneys who type your financial information into the official court forms for a fee.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 110 – Penalty for Persons Who Negligently or Fraudulently Prepare Bankruptcy Petitions That is the whole job. They cannot tell you which chapter to file under, explain which exemptions protect your property, advise you on whether a particular debt is dischargeable, or answer questions about bankruptcy procedure. Federal law prohibits them from offering any of those services.
Preparers also cannot sign documents on your behalf or collect the court’s filing fee from you.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 110 – Penalty for Persons Who Negligently or Fraudulently Prepare Bankruptcy Petitions They must give you a written notice stating that they are not attorneys and cannot provide legal services.
If a preparer crosses the line into legal advice, they face fines of up to $500 per violation, which the court can triple in cases involving concealed assets or false Social Security numbers. A debtor harmed by a preparer’s misconduct can sue for actual damages plus the greater of $2,000 or twice the amount paid.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 110 – Penalty for Persons Who Negligently or Fraudulently Prepare Bankruptcy Petitions Those penalties don’t undo a botched filing. You remain personally responsible for every number on those forms and must represent yourself in court if a creditor objects or the trustee challenges something.
The Court Clerk for Forms, Fees, and Procedure
The clerk’s office is the administrative gatekeeper. Staff provide local forms, explain procedural requirements, accept your filed documents, tell you what the filing fee is, and show you how to request installment payments. What they cannot do is give legal advice, suggest whether you should file, or predict how a judge will rule.
Filing Fees and Fee Relief
The standard Chapter 7 filing fee is $338, and Chapter 13 is $313. If you can’t pay upfront, you can apply to pay in installments. The court can break the fee into up to four payments, all due within 120 days of filing. For good cause, that deadline can extend to 180 days.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee While any balance on your filing fee remains unpaid, neither you nor a Chapter 13 trustee can pay your attorney or anyone else providing services on the case.
If even installments are out of reach, Chapter 7 filers whose income falls below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines can apply for a complete fee waiver.11United States Trustee Program. Notice to Chapter 7 Trustees re Bankruptcy Filing Fee Waivers For a single person in 2026, that threshold is roughly $23,940 a year. Chapter 13 filers do not have a fee waiver option, but the installment plan is available to anyone.
Self-Help Resources
Many clerk’s offices offer public computer terminals to access case records and research prior filings. Court websites often host step-by-step guides and instructional videos for people filing without an attorney. These help with mechanics and formatting. They aren’t a substitute for legal advice about which debts are dischargeable or how to protect your property.
The Trustee Assigned to Your Case
You don’t choose a trustee the way you choose an attorney, but once you file, this is someone you will interact with directly. Every bankruptcy case gets a trustee assigned, and the role depends on the chapter.
In a Chapter 7 case, the trustee investigates whether you have non-exempt assets that could be sold to pay creditors and runs the meeting of creditors, a brief hearing where you answer questions under oath about your income, expenses, debts, and property. Before that meeting, you’ll provide the trustee with a government-issued photo ID, proof of your Social Security number, recent pay stubs, bank and investment account statements covering the filing date, and your most recent federal tax return.12U.S. Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors Creditors can attend and ask questions, though most don’t appear in routine consumer cases.
In a Chapter 13 case, the trustee acts as a payment processor. You pay the trustee, who distributes money to your creditors under the court-approved plan.4United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics Payments must begin within 30 days of filing, even before the plan is officially confirmed. That relationship lasts the three to five years of the plan, so the trustee is the person you’ll deal with the longest.
One Thing to Check Before You Call Anyone
Bankruptcy doesn’t erase every kind of debt, and if the bulk of what you owe survives the process, filing may not accomplish what you’re hoping for. Debts that generally pass through bankruptcy untouched include child support and alimony, most government-backed and qualified private student loans (absent an “undue hardship” showing in a separate proceeding), recent income taxes, debts obtained by fraud, criminal restitution, and debts for injuries caused while driving intoxicated.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Some older tax debts may be dischargeable if the return was filed on time and more than two years before the petition date.14Internal Revenue Service. Publication 908, Bankruptcy Tax Guide If most of your debt sits in these categories, say so during your credit counseling session or attorney consultation and ask directly whether filing will give you meaningful relief.