The court charges $338 to file a Chapter 7 and $313 to file a Chapter 13. A Chapter 7 filer whose household income is under 150% of the federal poverty guidelines can ask the judge to waive the fee entirely. Anyone in either chapter can pay it in up to four installments within 120 days of filing. Chapter 13 filers can't get a waiver.
What the court charges, chapter by chapter
The filing fee is set by the federal Judicial Conference and it's the same in Santa Ana as it is in Manhattan. It covers the case, the trustee's initial work, and the noticing that goes out to your creditors. It doesn't buy you a lawyer, and it isn't refundable if the case is dismissed.
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Filing fee | $338 | $313 |
| Fee waiver available | Yes, if household income is under 150% of the poverty guidelines | No |
| Installments | Up to four, within 120 days | Up to four, within 120 days |
| What happens if an installment is missed | Case can be dismissed | Case can be dismissed |
People sometimes notice that Chapter 13 is $25 cheaper and wonder why. Nobody has a satisfying answer. It's the schedule.
The fee waiver: the 150% rule
Congress added the Chapter 7 fee waiver in 2005 for people whose income is so low that $338 would come out of rent. The test has two parts. First, your household's income has to be under 150% of the federal poverty guidelines for a household your size. Second, you have to be unable to pay the fee in installments. The judge decides both on a short form filed with the petition.
The poverty guidelines are published every year by the Department of Health and Human Services and go up a little each time. For a single person, 150% of the guideline currently works out to roughly $24,000 a year, and it rises by roughly $8,000 for each additional person in the household. We check the current chart when we prepare your case rather than guessing.
A waived fee means the whole $338 is gone, not deferred. If the judge denies the waiver, the order usually converts the request into an installment plan, so you lose nothing by asking.
Paying in four installments
You can file with nothing paid to the court. The application for installments goes in with the petition, proposes up to four payments, and the final one has to land within 120 days of the filing date. Judges can extend that to 180 days for cause, but don't plan on it.
The automatic stay goes into effect on the filing date either way. A garnishment stops whether the fee has been paid in full or not. That's the main reason installments exist: someone losing 20% of every paycheck shouldn't have to save up before they can stop it.
The catch is that a missed installment gets the case dismissed, usually without much warning. We calendar the dates and remind you. In practice most clients pay the fee in one or two payments before the 341 meeting and never think about it again.
Why Chapter 13 has no waiver
A Chapter 13 debtor is, by definition, someone with regular income who is proposing to pay creditors monthly for three to five years. The Bankruptcy Code takes the view that a person who can fund a plan can fund $313. So the waiver provision applies to Chapter 7 only.
What Chapter 13 does allow is installments, and in a case where the plan payment is tight we'll usually propose paying the fee over the four installments rather than tying it up before filing. It's a small thing, but small things add up in a Chapter 13 budget.
Paying a lawyer when there's no money
The court fee is the smaller problem. The attorney fee is the one people lie awake over, and here's how it works at this firm. Chapter 7 fees are paid before filing, usually over two to four months, because a fee owed on the filing date would be discharged with everything else. Chapter 13 fees are mostly paid through the plan, with $1,000 to $2,000 before filing.
The full breakdown for both chapters, with everything the fee covers and everything it doesn't, is on our page about what bankruptcy costs in Los Angeles. If you're choosing between chapters partly because of cost, read which chapter you qualify for first, since the answer to that question usually settles the cost question too.
Three mistakes with filing fees
Paying the court fee with a credit card you're about to discharge. Some lawyers won't take it, most judges frown at it, and the card company can object to that charge. Use a debit card or a money order.
Applying for a waiver you don't qualify for, hoping nobody checks. The form asks for your income and the judge compares it to the chart. A denied waiver isn't fatal, but a misstatement on a sworn form is a worse problem than $338.
Forgetting the last installment. The dismissal order for an unpaid fee is one of the few things in bankruptcy that happens quickly. Ask us before you miss it, not after.
more than once I've watched a client refuse to apply for the fee waiver because they didn't want to "look poor" to the judge. The judge has seen thousands of these forms and has no opinion about you. If your income is under the line, the waiver exists for you, and $338 buys groceries for a couple of weeks. The one time it does matter: the trustee reads the waiver application too, and if it says $1,400 a month but your bank statements say otherwise, that's the first question on Zoom. Be accurate. That's all.
Questions people ask about this
How much is the bankruptcy filing fee in California?
It's federal, so it's the same everywhere: $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13. Those are the court's charges and are separate from any attorney fee.
Who qualifies for a Chapter 7 fee waiver?
A filer whose household income is under 150% of the federal poverty guidelines for their household size and who can't pay in installments. The judge rules on a short application filed with the petition.
Can I file bankruptcy without paying the filing fee up front?
Yes. An installment application lets you file first and pay in up to four payments within 120 days. The automatic stay starts on the filing date regardless.
Can a Chapter 13 filing fee be waived?
No. The waiver in the Bankruptcy Code applies only to Chapter 7. Chapter 13 filers can pay the $313 in installments.
What happens if I miss an installment payment on the filing fee?
The court can dismiss the case, and it tends to do so promptly. If you see a payment coming that you can't make, tell us before the due date so we can ask for more time.
Talk it through with the attorney
If the court fee is the thing standing between you and filing, tell Naomi on the free consultation. She'll know within a few minutes whether you qualify for a waiver.