Credit counseling before bankruptcy

Federal law requires two short courses from approved providers when you file bankruptcy: credit counseling before you file and a debtor education course after you file. This guide explains both, what they cost and where to find an approved provider.

Before you file: credit counseling

Before you file, you must take a credit counseling course (a 'briefing') from an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program. You must take it within 180 days before you file. It can be in person, by phone or online, alone or in a group. Keep the certificate: you file it with your case. If you skip it, your case can be dismissed.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 109(h), 111

U.S. Trustee list of approved credit counseling agencies.

Exceptions

Very limited: an emergency (you asked an approved agency but could not get counseling within 7 days, and the court accepts your reasons); incapacity, disability or active military duty in a combat zone; or a district where the U.S. Trustee found there are not enough approved agencies.

After you file: debtor education

After you file, you must take a second, separate course on personal financial management (debtor education) from an approved provider. In most cases you get no discharge without it. Chapter 7: file the certificate within 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors. Chapter 13: by the date of your last plan payment. Some providers send the certificate to the court for you.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 727(a)(11), 1328(g); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(b)(7), 1007(c)(4)

U.S. Trustee list of approved debtor education providers.

The two courses cannot be taken in the same session: one is before filing, the other after.

The certificate

Instead of Form 423, you now file the certificate of completion that your approved course provider gives you, unless the provider has already notified the court.

Law: Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(b)(7) (as amended Dec. 1, 2024)

What the courses cost

Agencies may charge a reasonable fee, but they must provide the course and the certificate whether or not you can pay. If your household income is under 150% of the poverty level, you are presumed to qualify for a free or reduced-fee course. Ask the agency about its fee waiver before you start.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 111(c)(2)(B), 111(d)(1)(E)

The USTP lists include agencies that offer courses in Spanish and other languages.

The other costs of filing

To file Chapter 7 you pay $338 to the court: a $245 filing fee, a $78 administrative fee and a $15 trustee fee. A married couple filing one joint case pays one set of fees.

Law: 28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(1)(A); Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, items 8 and 9 (effective December 1, 2023)

To file Chapter 13 you pay $313 to the court: a $235 filing fee and a $78 administrative fee.

Law: 28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(1)(B); Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, item 8 (effective December 1, 2023)

In Chapter 7 only, the court may waive the fee. You must have income below 150% of the official poverty line for your family size, and you must be unable to pay the fee even in installments. Ask by filing Official Form 103B with your petition. The judge decides.

Law: 28 U.S.C. 1930(f)(1); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(c)

Read the filing fee guide.

Why the course matters

The debtor education course is tied to the discharge, the court order that ends your duty to pay many debts.

Chapter 7 is 'liquidation'. A trustee may sell property that is not exempt and pay creditors. Most individual Chapter 7 cases have no property to sell. Most remaining debts are discharged, usually about 60 to 90 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 701-727; Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4004(c)

The meeting of creditors

About a month after you file, you must attend the 'meeting of creditors' (341 meeting). The trustee asks you questions under oath about your property and debts. Creditors may come and ask questions. No judge attends. Chapter 7: 21 to 40 days after filing. Chapter 13: 21 to 50 days after filing. Bring photo ID and proof of your Social Security number. If you file jointly, both spouses must attend.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 341, 343; Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2003(a), 4002(b)(1)

More information

U.S. Trustee Program: credit counseling and debtor education.

This is general information, not legal advice. A legal aid office can help for free; each state page lists free help.