How we research our guides
Bankruptcy is federal law, but the property you can keep depends on your state. This page explains where our information comes from and how the tools work.
Sources
Each state page is built from official sources only: the state's statutes on the legislature's own website, state courts, the federal bankruptcy court for each district (including the exemption charts many courts publish), and legal aid organizations. Federal facts (filing fees, the means test median income table, the federal exemption amounts, credit counseling, the automatic stay, debts that are usually not discharged, refiling limits and the official forms) come from uscourts.gov, the U.S. Trustee Program at justice.gov/ust, the U.S. Code on govinfo.gov and the Federal Register. Each page lists its sources and the date it was checked.
How we check
- Every state file is researched and then checked by a second, independent reviewer against the official text, with special care for exemption amounts, the state-or-federal choice, the courts and their websites.
- A state page is published only after that check. Until then, the state appears on our map and in our tables as “not covered yet,” with a link to its bankruptcy court and LawHelp.org.
- Where something could not be confirmed, we leave it out instead of guessing. We copy dollar amounts exactly as the source states them and never round them.
The means test check
The check does only the first step of the Chapter 7 means test on Official Form 122A-1: it multiplies the average gross monthly income you enter by 12 and compares it with the U.S. Trustee Program median income for your state and household size, adding the official amount for each person over 4. It is always labelled as an estimate: the official form counts income in a specific way, and the court and the trustee decide. We make no other calculations: no exemption calculator and no plan payment calculator.
The letter and the checklist
The notice letter fills a standard letter with what you type: your case number, court, filing date and chapter, and the automatic stay in 11 U.S.C. 362(a). It is made on your device in English, because it goes to US creditors; on Spanish pages a Spanish explanation is shown beside it. The checklist lists the papers the official federal forms ask about. When you download, copy or print the letter or the checklist, we save the details you entered, as our privacy policy explains.
What we never do
We never advise which chapter to choose, never suggest moving, transferring or hiding property, and never call a debt or an asset safe. Those questions depend on your facts; a legal aid office or a bankruptcy attorney can help.
Report an error
Email us at hello@robinclaim.com with a link to the official source and we'll check it.