A Chapter 13 bankruptcy costs roughly $310 in court fees, $30 to $100 for two required courses, and $3,000 to $5,000 in attorney fees, plus a trustee commission of up to 10% taken out of every monthly plan payment. Those are the administrative numbers. The real cost is the plan itself: three to five years of committing your disposable income to creditors. So when people ask how much Chapter 13 bankruptcy costs, the honest answer is that the filing is cheap and the repayment is not.
The Court Filing Fee
Filing a Chapter 13 petition costs $310, made up of a $235 case filing fee and a $75 administrative fee.1United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics It’s normally due when you hand your petition to the clerk.
If you can’t pay all of it upfront, you can apply to pay in installments. The court can break the fee into up to four payments, and everything has to be paid within 120 days of filing. A judge can stretch that to 180 days for good cause. One catch matters: until the filing fee is paid in full, nobody, including your attorney, can be paid for work on the case.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee
Unlike Chapter 7, the Chapter 13 filing fee generally can’t be waived. The chapter is built around your ability to make regular payments, so a court may question whether you can sustain a five-year plan if you can’t cover the filing fee.
Credit Counseling and Debtor Education
Two courses are required by federal law. Before filing, you must complete a credit counseling briefing from an approved provider. After filing, you must finish a debtor education course. Both certificates have to be on file before the court will discharge any debts.3United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses
The counseling briefing typically runs $20 to $50, and the debtor education course runs $10 to $50. Budget $30 to $100 combined. Some approved providers offer reduced or free sessions for very low income filers.4U.S. Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information
Attorney Fees
Most people hire a bankruptcy attorney for a Chapter 13, and the fee structure is set up to keep that possible. Many bankruptcy courts publish what are called “no-look” or presumptive fees, a preset maximum an attorney can charge for a standard case without having to submit hourly billing for court approval. Presumptive amounts vary by district but generally fall between $3,000 and $5,000 for a routine consumer case. Unusually complex cases, like stripping a second mortgage or fighting over the value of multiple properties, can push fees higher with the court’s permission.
You usually won’t pay the whole thing upfront. Attorneys typically split it: a smaller retainer before filing, often $1,000 to $2,000, and the balance folded into your monthly plan payments. The rest of the fee gets paid off over the life of the plan alongside your other obligations.
The Trustee’s Commission
Every Chapter 13 case is administered by a standing trustee who collects your monthly payments and passes them to creditors. The trustee takes a percentage of everything flowing through the plan. Federal law caps this at 10% for non-farmer debtors, and the actual rate is set by the Attorney General and varies by region.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 586 – Duties; Supervision by Attorney General
The commission comes off the top of each payment before creditors see anything. Pay $500 a month at a 7% trustee rate and $35 goes to the trustee, $465 goes to your creditors. This is already built into the payment your plan proposes, so you don’t pay it separately.
The Plan Payment Is the Real Cost
The monthly plan payment dwarfs every other line item. Three tests set its size, and you pay whichever produces the highest number.
Your Disposable Income
If the trustee or an unsecured creditor objects to your plan, the court can only confirm it if you commit all of your projected disposable income, meaning what’s left after allowed living expenses, for the full commitment period.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC Chapter 13, Subchapter II – The Plan If your household income is below the state median, that period is three years. If it’s above the median, it’s five. Five years is the maximum length of any Chapter 13 plan.
What Creditors Would Get in Chapter 7
Your plan also has to pay unsecured creditors at least as much as they’d receive if your non-exempt assets were sold off in a Chapter 7 liquidation. If you have significant home equity, a second vehicle, or investment accounts that aren’t exempt, the total going to unsecured creditors through your plan has to match or beat that value.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC Chapter 13, Subchapter II – The Plan
Debts That Must Be Paid in Full
Certain debts have to be paid in full through the plan no matter what your disposable income calculation says:
- Past-due child support and spousal support arrears. You also have to stay current on ongoing support during the case, and falling behind is grounds for dismissal or conversion to Chapter 7.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC Chapter 13 – Adjustment of Debts of an Individual With Regular Income
- Recent income tax debts that meet certain timing rules.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC Chapter 13, Subchapter II – The Plan
- Mortgage arrears, if you’re behind and want to keep the house. The plan cures the missed payments over its life; your regular ongoing mortgage payments continue outside the plan.
- Car loans and similar secured debts, usually paid through the plan at a court-determined interest rate.
These often set the floor for your payment even when disposable income alone would produce a lower number.
Tax Refunds Go to the Trustee
Most Chapter 13 trustees treat your federal tax refund as disposable income that belongs to creditors. Plan on turning over some or all of your refund each year the plan is active. Some courts have local rules spelling out exactly how much. Exceptions exist when your plan already pays unsecured creditors in full, or when you can show the court you need the refund for a necessary and unexpected expense, but the default is that refunds go to the trustee.
Costs That Can Come Up Along the Way
A few less predictable expenses can appear depending on how the case unfolds:
- Property appraisals, if the value of your home or other property is disputed. Residential appraisals typically run $200 to $600. Most routine cases don’t need one, but you may need an appraisal when equity affects what the plan must pay, or when you want to strip off an underwater second mortgage.
- Plan modifications, if a job loss, medical emergency, or income change means you can no longer make the confirmed payment. Your attorney may charge additional fees for this work beyond the presumptive fee.
- A $10 filing fee if the case is converted from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7.8United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
What It Costs If You Can’t Finish
Not everyone completes a Chapter 13 plan. If payments stop, the court can dismiss the case or convert it to Chapter 7.1United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics Each has a financial consequence worth knowing before you file:
- Dismissal. The case closes without a discharge. You still owe all your debts, the automatic stay lifts, and creditors can resume lawsuits and wage garnishment. Money you already paid into the plan went to creditors but didn’t erase the underlying balances.
- Conversion to Chapter 7. The case becomes a liquidation. Non-exempt assets may be sold to pay creditors, but you may receive a discharge of qualifying debts. The conversion filing fee is $10.
- Plan modification. Before dismissal or conversion, the court can approve a modified plan with lower payments if your circumstances have changed. The trustee or an unsecured creditor can also request a modification.
- Hardship discharge. In rare cases the court can grant an early discharge without full plan completion if three conditions are met: the failure to finish is due to circumstances beyond your control, creditors have already received at least what they would have in a Chapter 7 case, and modifying the plan is not feasible. Serious injury or illness that prevents employment is a common basis.