Bankruptcy does not clear most court fines. Criminal fines, criminal restitution, and traffic and parking tickets almost always survive both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. The one meaningful opening is in Chapter 13, which can discharge certain civil penalties owed to government agencies that Chapter 7 leaves untouched. Whether your fine falls on the dischargeable side depends on whether it is criminal or civil, whether it punishes or reimburses an actual loss, and which chapter you file.
Criminal Fines and Restitution Always Survive
If a court imposed a fine or restitution order as part of a criminal sentence, bankruptcy will not erase it. The bankruptcy code carves out two separate protections. Fines and penalties payable to a governmental unit that aren’t compensation for actual pecuniary loss are non-dischargeable in Chapter 7.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Chapter 13’s discharge provision separately blocks the elimination of “restitution, or a criminal fine, included in a sentence on the debtor’s conviction of a crime.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge Federal restitution orders under Title 18 receive an additional layer of protection.
The Supreme Court settled the state-law side of this in Kelly v. Robinson, holding that restitution conditions imposed as part of a state criminal sentence cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.3Justia. Kelly v Robinson, 479 US 36 (1986) The rule sweeps broadly. Misdemeanor and felony fines, victim restitution, court surcharges tied to a criminal case, and related fees all carry through bankruptcy intact. So does the automatic stay’s exception for criminal proceedings: filing bankruptcy does not pause a criminal case against you, and sentencing goes forward on its own schedule.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 362 – Automatic Stay
Civil Government Fines: Punitive vs. Compensatory
Civil fines imposed by a government agency are the category where outcomes actually vary. The controlling question is whether the fine exists to punish or to reimburse the government for money it actually spent. A fine or penalty payable to a governmental unit is non-dischargeable in Chapter 7 only if it is not compensation for an actual pecuniary loss.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
In practice, most regulatory fines are treated as punitive. An environmental, safety, or business regulator imposing a penalty is trying to deter conduct, not recover a specific dollar amount it lost. That makes those fines non-dischargeable in Chapter 7. By contrast, if a government agency charges you the actual cost of cleaning up contamination you caused, that charge reimburses a real expenditure and may be dischargeable. Courts look at the purpose of the obligation, not the label. A “fee” that exceeds the government’s actual costs can be punitive; a “penalty” tied dollar-for-dollar to expenses can be compensatory.
Chapter 7 Cannot Touch Most Court Fines
Chapter 7 liquidates non-exempt assets and discharges most remaining unsecured debt, but court fines are where its power stops. Criminal fines, traffic tickets, and regulatory penalties survive Chapter 7’s discharge.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge What Chapter 7 can do is clear competing debts. Credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans go away, which may free up income to pay the fines that remain. The fines themselves stay at full balance.
Chapter 13’s Narrower Discharge Exceptions
Chapter 13 puts you on a three-to-five-year repayment plan, with a trustee distributing your monthly payments to creditors.5United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics Criminal fines and restitution survive Chapter 13 too, because the statute specifically excepts them.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
Here is what most people miss. The list of Chapter 13 discharge exceptions is shorter than Chapter 7’s. The general exception for punitive government fines, which blocks discharge of regulatory penalties and civil fines in Chapter 7, is not among Chapter 13’s exceptions.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge Complete every payment under a Chapter 13 plan, and certain civil government fines that would have survived Chapter 7 can actually be wiped out. Lawyers sometimes call this the Chapter 13 “superdischarge.”
The line runs like this:
- Still non-dischargeable in Chapter 13: criminal fines, criminal restitution, debts from intoxicated driving that caused injury or death, fraud-related debts, and domestic support obligations.
- Potentially dischargeable in Chapter 13: punitive civil fines owed to government agencies, including many regulatory penalties, that would not be dischargeable in Chapter 7.
For someone carrying significant civil regulatory fines alongside other debts, Chapter 13 becomes a real strategic option. The cost is committing to years of structured payments. The payoff is that certain government fines Chapter 7 could not eliminate may be gone at the end.
Traffic Tickets and Parking Tickets
Traffic and parking tickets are among the fines people most often hope to discharge. Both are typically classified as government penalties rather than compensation for actual loss, which makes them non-dischargeable in Chapter 7.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Late fees, administrative surcharges, and court costs stacked on top of the original ticket generally get the same treatment; courts view them as part of the penalty rather than a separate compensatory charge.
Because traffic and parking fines fall under the civil government penalty category, the Chapter 13 superdischarge can reach them in principle. Classification is the wrinkle. A moving violation prosecuted as a criminal infraction sits under the criminal fine exception and survives; a civil parking ticket from a municipality is on different footing. Courts look at the actual nature of the obligation, not the label the jurisdiction uses.
Even where discharge is off the table, folding these fines into a Chapter 13 plan lets you pay them in structured installments rather than facing simultaneous collection from multiple municipalities.
DUI and DWI Debts
Debts from intoxicated driving get particularly severe treatment. Any debt for death or personal injury caused by operating a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft while intoxicated is non-dischargeable.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The exception covers civil judgments from personal injury lawsuits, not just criminal fines, so a civil verdict against you survives bankruptcy alongside the criminal sentence. The same exception applies in Chapter 13.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
Property damage caused while intoxicated is treated differently. It may be dischargeable unless the injured party files a separate action within the bankruptcy case to prove the damage was willful and malicious. For bodily injury or death, non-dischargeability is automatic; no one has to file a challenge for the debt to survive.
Tax Penalties
Tax penalties sit in their own corner. The general rule for government fines includes a carve-out for tax penalties, which are governed by separate provisions. A tax penalty tied to a transaction or event more than three years before filing, or related to certain specified tax types, may be dischargeable.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
Tax fraud is the trap door. Willful attempts to evade tax survive bankruptcy regardless of timing. Courts require proof of both deliberate conduct aimed at defeating the tax and knowledge that the conduct was wrong. Negligence and honest mistakes don’t clear that bar, but deliberate underreporting, hiding income, and filing false returns will keep the entire tax debt alive.
Professional License Fines
Fines from professional licensing boards — state bar associations, medical boards, real estate commissions — follow the government-penalty framework. Courts have treated disciplinary costs imposed by a state bar as punitive rather than compensatory, making them non-dischargeable in Chapter 7 under the general government fine exception.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The reasoning is that these boards exist to protect the public, and disciplinary fines serve that public purpose rather than reimbursing a specific cost.
The practical stakes are high. Federal law bars a government entity from denying a license solely because someone filed for bankruptcy or failed to pay a dischargeable debt. That protection does not extend to non-dischargeable debts, so a licensing board can condition continued licensure on payment of the outstanding fine. The Chapter 13 superdischarge may reach professional licensing fines because they fall under the government penalty exception Chapter 13 doesn’t incorporate. Whether that works in a specific case turns on whether the fine is classified as punitive under applicable law.
Fines Owed to Private Parties
Not every fine is a court fine. Homeowner association penalties, condo association fines, and private contractual penalties aren’t payable to a governmental unit, so the non-dischargeability rule for punitive government fines doesn’t apply to them. These generally can be discharged in Chapter 7 like other unsecured debts. Pre-filing HOA balances are typically wiped out. HOA fees and fines that accrue after the filing date are a separate matter and remain your responsibility.
What Happens When a Fine Survives
When court fines make it through bankruptcy intact, the issuing authority keeps its full collection power. For criminal fines, non-payment can carry serious consequences. A court that suspended jail time in favor of a fine can revoke that arrangement. Probation can be revoked for failure to pay restitution. Driver’s licenses and professional licenses can be suspended. Wages can be garnished, and tax refunds can be intercepted.
The bankruptcy discharge eliminates your personal liability on dischargeable debts and blocks creditors from collecting on them afterward. Non-dischargeable fines never fall under that protection. The full balance carries forward, and the government can pursue collection just as it could before you filed. If you’re carrying significant court fines alongside consumer debt, the practical question is not usually whether Chapter 7 will erase the fines — it won’t — but whether Chapter 13 lets you handle them on manageable terms while clearing whatever civil penalties the superdischarge can reach. A bankruptcy attorney can look at the mix of fines you owe and tell you which chapter, if either, actually helps.