How to file bankruptcy without a lawyer

The official steps, forms and free help.

You can file bankruptcy without a lawyer. The federal courts call this filing pro se. It means you fill out the official forms, file them with the bankruptcy court and follow the court's rules yourself. This guide lists the official steps and links the official forms and help.

Before you start: free help

Free legal help may be available. Your state page lists legal aid offices and bankruptcy clinics; these national services can help too:

Step 1: Take 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.

Step 2: Gather your papers

The forms ask about your income, debts, property and monthly budget. Use the free checklist below to collect what you need.

Step 3: Fill out the official forms

Official forms are free to download. The court clerk cannot help you fill them out or give legal advice.

All official bankruptcy forms (uscourts.gov) · U.S. Courts: Filing Without an Attorney

Step 4: Claim your exemptions

Exemptions are the property the law lets you keep. You list the ones you claim on Official Form 106C.

In some states you can choose either the state exemptions or the federal exemptions. You must pick one whole set; you cannot mix them. Other states allow only the state exemptions. A married couple filing together must both pick the same set.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(1)-(2)

Find your state's list on its state page, or compare states in exemptions by state.

Step 5: The means test

If you have mostly consumer debts and file Chapter 7, you take the means test. If your income is below your state's median for your household size, you usually pass. If it is above, a longer form subtracts allowed expenses; if enough income is left over, abuse is presumed and the case may be dismissed or changed to Chapter 13 with your consent. Since April 1, 2025 the thresholds are $10,275 and $17,150 over 5 years (60 months).

Law: 11 U.S.C. 707(b)(2), 707(b)(7); 90 FR 8941

Check the first step with our means test median income check.

Step 6: File and pay the fee

You file in the federal bankruptcy court for the district where you live; your state page names it.

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)

If you can't pay the fee at once, read the filing fee guide.

Step 7: After you file

When you file, an 'automatic stay' starts right away. Most creditors must stop collection: lawsuits, wage garnishment, foreclosure, repossession and collection calls. Some actions are not stopped, such as collecting child support or alimony and many criminal cases. If you had a case dismissed in the past year, the stay may last only 30 days unless the court extends it; with two or more dismissed cases in the past year, there may be no stay at all.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 362(a), 362(b), 362(c)(3), 362(c)(4)

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)

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

Free checklist: what to gather before you file

Check off what you already have, then download or print your list. Choose your state to add its bankruptcy courts and free help. Each item names the official form that asks about it.

What you already have

Income
Taxes
Debts
Property
Monthly budget
Before and after you file
Other formats

Your checklist