You can usually file Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13 dismissal, and in most cases you can do it immediately. Filing Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13 dismissal is only blocked outright when a 180-day bar applies because of how the earlier case ended. Even without a waiting period, you still have to deal with a shortened automatic stay, qualify under the Chapter 7 means test, and complete a fresh round of credit counseling before the new case can move forward.
When the 180-Day Bar Applies
Federal law blocks a new bankruptcy filing for 180 days after a dismissal in two specific situations. Both are found in 11 U.S.C. § 109(g).1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
The first is dismissal because you willfully refused to obey court orders or failed to appear and prosecute the case. “Willfully” is the operative word. Missing plan payments after losing a job is not the same as ignoring deadlines, refusing to turn over documents, or skipping mandatory hearings. Judges look for a pattern of intentional defiance, not financial hardship.
The second is a tactical voluntary dismissal. If a creditor filed a motion to lift the automatic stay (a mortgage lender moving toward foreclosure, for example) and you responded by voluntarily dismissing the Chapter 13, the law treats that sequence as using bankruptcy purely to delay collection. The 180-day bar applies automatically.
When You Can File Right Away
If neither trigger caused the dismissal, no waiting period exists. Most Chapter 13 cases fall apart because the debtor can no longer afford the monthly plan payments after a job loss, medical emergency, or other setback. Courts dismiss those cases without prejudice, and you keep the right to file a new case immediately.
The discharge-timing bars that trip people up between completed cases do not apply here. Federal law bars a Chapter 7 discharge if you received a Chapter 13 discharge within the previous six years, but a dismissed case produces no discharge at all.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge It does not matter whether your Chapter 13 lasted six months or four years. The dismissed case creates no discharge-based waiting period for the new Chapter 7.
Consider Converting Instead of Refiling
If the Chapter 13 has not actually been dismissed yet, converting is often a cleaner move than dismissing and starting over. Under 11 U.S.C. § 1307(a), you have an absolute right to convert a Chapter 13 to a Chapter 7 at any time, and no waiver of that right is enforceable.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1307 – Conversion or Dismissal
The practical advantage is that you continue the same bankruptcy case rather than opening a new one. The repeat-filer limits on the automatic stay never come into play. There is no 30-day expiration, no motion to extend, no bad-faith presumption to overcome. The stay already in place carries over into the converted Chapter 7.
Conversion has trade-offs. You still have to qualify for Chapter 7 under the means test, and a Chapter 7 trustee will review your assets for anything that can be liquidated. But if the Chapter 13 is failing and you expect to qualify for Chapter 7 anyway, converting is usually faster and less risky than refiling.
Your Automatic Stay Will Be Limited
The automatic stay is bankruptcy’s most immediate protection. It stops wage garnishments, collection calls, lawsuits, and foreclosure proceedings the moment you file. If you file a new case within one year of a prior case being dismissed, that protection shrinks.
One Prior Dismissed Case Within a Year
If one prior case was pending and dismissed within the year before your new filing, the automatic stay in the new Chapter 7 expires after 30 days unless the court extends it.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay After that 30-day window, creditors can resume collection as if no bankruptcy existed. The limitation applies regardless of why the prior case was dismissed. Even a straightforward inability to pay triggers it.
Two or More Prior Dismissed Cases Within a Year
With two or more cases pending and dismissed in the prior year, the automatic stay does not go into effect at all when you file. Creditors can keep garnishing wages, pursuing foreclosure, and suing you. You get no breathing room unless you affirmatively ask the court to impose the stay and the court agrees.
How to Extend or Impose the Stay
The reduced stay is not permanent if you move quickly. The window is tight and the burden of proof is on you.
With one prior dismissal, you file a motion asking the court to extend the stay. The motion has to be filed and the court has to hold a hearing before the 30-day period expires.5United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The Effect of Repeat Filing on the Automatic Bankruptcy Stay Miss the window and the stay dies. There is no late-filing option.
To win the motion, you have to show the new case was filed in good faith. The law presumes bad faith in several situations, including when your financial circumstances have not substantially changed since the prior case, or when the prior case was dismissed because you failed to file required documents, provide adequate protection, or perform under a confirmed plan.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Rebutting that presumption takes clear and convincing evidence, which is a high standard. Concrete proof helps: new employment, a real change in income, resolution of the problem that broke the Chapter 13 plan, or a medical recovery.
With two or more prior dismissals, the process is similar but you are asking the court to impose a stay that does not yet exist. File the motion within 30 days of the new case. The same good-faith presumption applies and the same clear and convincing standard controls. Courts scrutinize these hard. If your circumstances have genuinely changed, you have a real shot. If the pattern reads as serial filing to stall creditors, expect denial.
File the motion the same day as the petition or within days of it. Waiting until day 25 of 30 to find an attorney and file is a good way to lose stay protection entirely.
Passing the Chapter 7 Means Test
Even with no waiting period and no stay problem, you still have to qualify for Chapter 7. The main gatekeeper is the means test.
The test starts with your current monthly income, which in bankruptcy means your average gross income from all sources over the six full calendar months before filing. That number is multiplied by 12 and compared to the median family income for a household of your size in your state.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13 The U.S. Trustee Program publishes updated median income figures that change periodically.7U.S. Trustee Program. Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size
If your annualized income is below the median, you pass. Only the court or the U.S. Trustee can challenge the filing for abuse in that scenario; creditors cannot.
If your income is above the median, a second calculation kicks in. You subtract certain allowed expenses (housing, transportation, health care, taxes, secured debt payments) from your income to determine monthly disposable income. That figure is multiplied by 60 and compared against statutory thresholds. If the result suggests you could fund a meaningful repayment plan, the court presumes your Chapter 7 filing is abusive and may dismiss it or push you toward Chapter 13.
One detail people coming out of a dismissed Chapter 13 often miss: the six-month lookback includes income earned while the Chapter 13 was still open. If you were employed and making plan payments during that stretch, your average may be higher than what you are actually earning now. Timing the new filing so that lower-income months dominate the lookback can be the difference between passing and failing.
What Chapter 7 Does to Your Property
Chapter 13 lets you keep property while paying debts over time. Chapter 7 works differently. A court-appointed trustee reviews everything you own and sells anything that is not protected by a bankruptcy exemption, then distributes the proceeds to creditors.8United States Courts. Chapter 7 – Bankruptcy Basics
Most Chapter 7 cases end up as no-asset cases, where the debtor’s property is either fully exempt or worth too little for the trustee to bother selling. Every state provides exemptions covering a set amount of home equity, a vehicle up to a specified value, household goods, retirement accounts, and other necessities. Some states add a wildcard exemption you can apply to any property.
The risk climbs if you own significant non-exempt assets: a second property, expensive collections, large cash savings, investment accounts, or a vehicle worth substantially more than your state’s exemption limit. If you accumulated assets during the Chapter 13 that are not fully exempt, switching to Chapter 7 could mean losing them. Map that out before you file.
New Credit Counseling and Filing Costs
Federal law requires a credit counseling briefing from a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program within 180 days before your filing date. The certificate you got for the Chapter 13 has almost certainly expired, so you need a new one. The briefing is available by phone, online, or in person and usually takes about an hour.
The Chapter 7 filing fee is $338. If your household income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines and you cannot afford installment payments, you can apply for a fee waiver. Otherwise the court allows payment in up to four installments over 120 days.