Filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy usually costs between $1,500 and $3,500 when you hire an attorney, or as little as $338 if you file on your own. The $338 court filing fee is fixed, and attorney fees make up most of the rest. A couple of required courses and a handful of small expenses round out the bill, and several options exist to reduce or eliminate the court fee if your income is low.
The Court Filing Fee Is $338
Every Chapter 7 case carries a $338 filing fee paid to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The amount is set federally and is the same in every district. It covers opening your case, assigning a trustee, and processing your petition.
You don’t have to pay it all at filing. Submit Form 103A and the court can split the fee into up to four installments, with 120 days from your filing date to pay in full, extendable to 180 days for good cause.1Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee
If your household income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines and you can’t pay even in installments, the court can waive the fee entirely.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees You’ll file Form 103B along with your petition.
Attorney Fees Are the Biggest Expense
Hiring a bankruptcy attorney is the largest single cost in most Chapter 7 cases. Fees generally run $1,500 to $2,500. Simpler cases in lower-cost areas sometimes come in around $1,000, and complex cases with non-exempt assets or contested issues can push past $3,000.
Two things drive the price. Location matters: attorneys in major metro areas charge more than those in smaller markets. Case complexity matters more. Property that isn’t fully covered by exemptions, secured debts you want to keep paying, or potential creditor objections all add work. A clean, no-asset case where everything you own is exempt is the cheapest scenario.
Most Chapter 7 attorneys require the full fee before they file your petition. Once the case is filed, anything you still owe the attorney becomes an unsecured pre-petition debt that could be discharged along with everything else, and attorneys understandably won’t take that risk. Many will let you pay over several weeks or months leading up to filing, but the balance needs to be zero when the paperwork goes in.
Filing Without an Attorney
You can file Chapter 7 pro se, which eliminates the largest single cost. The U.S. Courts website provides the free forms and allows anyone to file on their own.3United States Courts. Filing Without an Attorney The courts themselves recommend hiring a qualified attorney, because mistakes can affect your rights and neither court staff nor the judge can give you legal advice.
Pro se works best when your situation is genuinely simple: all consumer debt, no significant assets, no recent transactions that might raise red flags. If any part of your case is complicated, the money you save can be lost to a dismissed case, forfeited assets you could have exempted, or debts that don’t get discharged because of paperwork errors.
Limited-Scope Representation
Some attorneys offer a middle ground called limited-scope or “unbundled” representation. The attorney handles specific parts, like reviewing your petition, advising on exemptions, or appearing at the creditors’ meeting, while you do the rest. It costs less than full representation, though availability varies by jurisdiction.
Two Required Courses
Federal law requires two financial education courses. The first is credit counseling, completed before filing. The second is a debtor education course, taken after filing but before the court grants your discharge.4U.S. Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information Both must come from a provider approved by the U.S. Trustee Program.5United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses
Each course typically costs $10 to $50. If your household income is below 150% of the federal poverty level, approved agencies are required to waive or reduce the fee based on your ability to pay.6U.S. Department of Justice. Frequently Asked Questions – Credit Counseling Most providers offer them online or by phone and take about an hour.
Smaller Costs to Budget For
A handful of smaller expenses are easy to overlook:
- Credit reports. You need accurate creditor information for your petition. Free copies are available through annualcreditreport.com, though some filers pay for monitoring during the process.
- Copies and postage. A Chapter 7 petition can run 60 or more pages, and copies go to the court and trustee.
- Amendment fees. Correcting or adding information to your creditor schedules after filing costs $34 per amendment. The judge can waive this for good cause, and minor changes like updating a creditor’s address are free.7United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
- Property appraisals. If you own real estate or other valuable assets, you may need a professional appraisal to establish fair market value. A residential appraisal typically runs $300 to $650. Not every case requires one.
Plan for roughly $50 to $150 in miscellaneous expenses on top of the filing fee, courses, and attorney fees. Add appraisal costs on top of that if your case needs one.
What You’ll Pay, All In
Pulling the numbers together:
- Pro se, no attorney: $338 filing fee plus $20 to $100 in course fees and miscellaneous expenses. Total: roughly $360 to $440, or less with fee waivers.
- With an attorney, simple case: $338 filing fee, $1,500 to $2,500 in attorney fees, $20 to $100 in courses and miscellaneous costs. Total: roughly $1,850 to $2,950.
- With an attorney, complex case: same base costs, attorney fees of $2,500 to $3,500 or more, plus possible appraisal fees of $300 to $650. Total: $3,150 to $4,600 or higher.
Most filers land between $1,500 and $3,000. If you qualify for the filing fee waiver and the course fee waivers, attorney fees are essentially your only major expense.
Two Things That Can Change the Math
Before spending money on a Chapter 7 filing, confirm you qualify. The means test compares your household income over the past six months to your state’s median for a household your size. Below the median, you pass automatically. Above it, the test moves to a second step that subtracts allowed living expenses from your monthly income, and if too much disposable income is left, the court can dismiss your case or convert it to Chapter 13.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13 Paying an attorney to prepare a Chapter 7 you don’t qualify for can mean paying again to convert. A good attorney runs the means test numbers before you commit.
The other item worth flagging is tax treatment. Outside bankruptcy, forgiven debt is generally taxable income and generates a 1099-C. Debts discharged in a Chapter 7 case are excluded from taxable income.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 908 (2025), Bankruptcy Tax Guide The trade-off is that the discharged amount can reduce certain tax attributes you’d otherwise carry forward, like net operating losses or the cost basis of property, reported on IRS Form 982.10Internal Revenue Service. About Form 982, Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness For most consumer filers this has little practical impact, but if you have investment property or carried-forward business losses, talk to a tax professional before filing.