How Much Do Lawyers Charge for Bankruptcies, and Why

A bankruptcy lawyer in the United States charges a flat fee whose size depends on which chapter you file. A straightforward Chapter 7 case runs roughly $1,000 to $2,500, paid in full before the petition reaches the court. Chapter 13 runs higher, commonly $5,200 to $7,000, and is usually paid out of the repayment plan instead of your pocket. Courts publish the Chapter 13 range themselves: the Central District of California allows up to $7,000 without a detailed fee application, and the Middle District of North Carolina sets $5,200 to $6,000 by standing order. On top of the lawyer, the court charges $338 for Chapter 7 or $313 for Chapter 13, and two required courses may charge up to $50 each.

Why the two chapters produce different prices

Two court decisions explain the gap.

In Lamie v. United States Trustee, 540 U.S. 526 (2004), the Supreme Court held that a Chapter 7 debtor's own attorney cannot be paid from the bankruptcy estate unless the trustee employs that attorney under section 327. The Seventh Circuit closed the other door in Bethea v. Robert J. Adams & Associates, 352 F.3d 1125 (2003): a fee still owed on filing day is a pre-petition debt, wiped out by the discharge under section 727(b) and not excepted by section 523.

A Chapter 7 lawyer who files before being paid has converted the fee into a claim they just destroyed. Payment in full before filing is the arithmetic result. It is also why no authoritative Chapter 7 figure exists: the fee is settled privately, before the court has a case. The $1,450 average in circulation comes from a Nolo reader survey from 2020.

Chapter 13 has a payment source. The trustee disburses counsel's fee out of plan payments across three to five years, and the court supervising that channel decides what passes through it. The gap between the two figures is a financing gap before it is a workload one. I read utility rebate applications for a living, where the headline saving is an output of assumptions about which wash cycle a household actually runs; fee quotes work the same way.

Which chapter fits your problem, before anyone quotes you

Income and assets pick the chapter, and the chapter sets the price range before a lawyer opens a file. The means test compares your average monthly income over the six months before filing, annualized, against the median family income for your household size. The U.S. Trustee Program publishes that table from Census data and revises it about twice a year. For cases filed on or after July 15, 2026, a single Georgia filer's median is $68,478 and a four-person Georgia household's $123,481. In California the same figures are $79,253 and $139,071. Add $11,100 for each person beyond four. Income above the line sends you to Form 122A-2 and a possible presumption of abuse, which is where a Chapter 7 quote starts climbing.

Chapter 13 has its own ceiling: section 109(e) caps eligibility at $526,700 in unsecured debt and $1,580,125 in secured debt for cases filed between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2028.

| | Chapter 7 with a lawyer | Chapter 13 with a lawyer | Petition preparer | |---|---|---|---| | Court fee | $338 | $313 | $338 or $313; you file it | | Who sets the fee | The market | Your district's guideline | Your district's cap | | Typical figure | $1,000-$2,500 | $5,200-$7,000 | $150 N.D. Cal., $125 D. Colo., $100 W.D. Wis. | | When it is paid | In full before filing | Retainer, then through the plan | Before filing | | Legal advice | Included | Included | Barred by 11 U.S.C. § 110(e)(2) | | Court fee waiver | Yes, Official Form 103B | No | Yes, Chapter 7 only |

Northern District of California guidelines under B.L.R. 9029-1 cap the preparer at $150 including postage and copying, and the court's list of forbidden acts covers whether to file, which chapter, which exemptions to claim, and whether a debt is dischargeable. The service is cheap because it excludes the decision that sets your cost.

What the court charges, separate from the lawyer

The $338 stacks three charges: a $245 case filing fee, a $78 administrative fee, and a $15 trustee surcharge. Chapter 13's $313 is a $235 case fee plus the same $78. Both come from the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule under 28 U.S.C. § 1930, identical in all 94 districts.

Those two hold steady on December 1, 2026, when other bankruptcy fees rise under Judicial Conference adjustments approved in March. The District of Oregon's fee page lists them: amending your schedule of creditors moves from $34 to $38, a motion for relief from stay from $199 to $221.

Then the courses: credit counseling before filing, debtor education after discharge. Under the Trustee Program's rules at 28 C.F.R. §§ 58.12–58.24 and §§ 58.25–58.36, a fee of $50 or less is presumptively reasonable; anything higher requires prior clearance and proof that costs justify it. Both must waive or reduce it for a household below 150% of the federal poverty level. The 2026 HHS guidelines, published in the Federal Register on January 15, put one person at $15,960 and four at $33,000, so those waiver lines sit at $23,940 and $49,500.

If you cannot pay at once, Rule 1006(b) and Official Form 103A allow up to four installments, the last due within 120 days of filing and extendable to 180 for cause. Read the rest of that rule first: until the filing fee is paid in full, neither you nor the Chapter 13 trustee may pay your attorney anything further. A full waiver exists only in Chapter 7, under 28 U.S.C. § 1930(f) and Official Form 103B, for income below 150% of the guideline plus inability to pay in installments.

What makes a bankruptcy case more expensive to handle

Creditor count is the cheapest variable to get wrong. Official Form 101 asks at line 18 how many creditors you owe, in bands: 1-49, 50-99, 100-199, 200-999, upward. Remembering a debt after filing means an amendment; the clerk charges $34 today, $38 from December 1.

Equity is the expensive one. If an asset's value exceeds what your exemptions protect, a trustee has property to sell. States that have not opted out allow the federal set: $31,575 of homestead equity and a wildcard of $1,675 plus up to $15,800 of any unused homestead, in force until March 31, 2028.

Disputes sit outside the flat fee entirely. The Central District of California's Rights and Responsibilities Agreement commits the attorney to "all matters arising in the case, other than adversary proceedings," and requires a referral to qualified counsel when one is filed against you.

The Middle District of North Carolina publishes what each extra motion is worth, the clearest fee document I have read this year. Standing Order 23-02 prices a motion to modify the plan at $500, a motion to avoid a judicial lien at $400, a motion to incur debt at $450, a motion to substitute collateral at $700, and an opposition to stay relief with a hearing at $350. The same order caps the base fee at $2,500 when total plan payments fall below $7,000, and adds $500 when the responsible attorney has completed seven hours of bankruptcy continuing legal education in the year before filing.

What a written fee agreement has to spell out

Every case produces a Form 2030 disclosure under Rule 2016(b) and section 329(a): what the attorney charged, who paid it, what the fee covers. Section 329(b) lets the court order the return of anything exceeding the reasonable value of the services.

Four steps:

1. Find your district's published Chapter 13 fee guideline and compare the quote.
2. Read the included services. The California agreement runs 11 duties before filing and 23 after.
3. Locate the exclusions and the separately priced motions.
4. Check the payment rules. Under that agreement, apart from the initial retainer the attorney may take nothing directly from you before plan confirmation.

You already paid a retainer and the case got complicated

Pull the Form 2030 and the signed agreement, then match the new work against the exclusion list. In Chapter 13, additional fees require an application the trustee and judge both review, billed at the hourly rate written into your agreement. If that blank was left empty when you signed, raise it now rather than after the application is filed. The California agreement also says a debtor disputing the services or charges may file an objection and request a hearing, and may discharge the attorney at any time.

The cost that outlasts the fee

A Chapter 13 fee is only owed in full if the plan runs its course, and most do not. Compilations of the Trustee Program's audited annual Chapter 13 trustee reports put fiscal 2025 exits at roughly 52% dismissed, 43% discharged, 5% converted. Those are exits recorded in one year across many filing cohorts, so read them as a shape rather than a probability.

This is the appliance-rebate problem in a different costume: a payback figure that assumes a cycle the household will not run. A $6,000 fee spread over 60 months is a different purchase from one attached to a plan that fails in month 14.

The windows are fixed. FCRA section 1681c(a)(1) lets credit bureaus report a bankruptcy for ten years from the order for relief; the seven-year figure attached to Chapter 13 is bureau policy rather than statute. Refiling runs filing date to filing date: eight years between Chapter 7 discharges under section 727(a)(8), six years from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 under 727(a)(9), four years from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13 and two years between Chapter 13 cases under 1328(f).

The comparison worth running is the Chapter 7 total against the Chapter 13 total weighted by the odds of finishing, with that ten-year window on both.

Questions people ask before they call

How much money can I have in the bank for Chapter 7?

No statutory limit exists. The trustee looks at your balance on the filing date and asks whether an exemption protects it. Under the federal exemptions, open only to states that have not opted out, the wildcard covers $1,675 plus up to $15,800 of unused homestead through March 2028. State exemptions vary widely.

Is $20,000 of debt enough to file Chapter 7?

There is no minimum debt for Chapter 7. Eligibility turns on the means test, which weighs your six-month average income against your state median: $68,478 for a single Georgia filer, $79,253 in California, for cases filed on or after July 15, 2026. Whether filing is worthwhile is separate.

What is the cheapest way to file Chapter 7?

Filing without a lawyer and qualifying for a fee waiver. Official Form 103B waives the $338 court fee when your income falls under 150% of the federal poverty guideline, $23,940 for one person in 2026, and you cannot pay in installments. Approved course providers must waive their fees at that income.

What does a lawyer charge for Chapter 7?

Most charge a flat fee due in full before filing, commonly $1,000 to $2,500. No court publishes a Chapter 7 benchmark, so the only checkable record is the Form 2030 compensation disclosure filed in every case and searchable through PACER.

What does a lawyer charge for Chapter 13?

Your bankruptcy court sets a presumptive figure. The Central District of California allows up to $7,000 without a detailed fee application, $8,500 when the debtor is in business. The Middle District of North Carolina sets $5,200 to $6,000, capped at $2,500 when plan payments total under $7,000. Most is paid through the plan.

Can Chapter 7 filing fees be paid in installments?

Yes. Bankruptcy Rule 1006(b) and Official Form 103A permit up to four payments, the last due within 120 days of filing and extendable to 180 for cause. Until the $338 is fully paid, neither you nor a trustee may pay your attorney anything further.

Which services are included in a bankruptcy fee agreement?

In Chapter 13 the court usually defines them. The Central District of California's Rights and Responsibilities Agreement lists 11 pre-filing and 23 post-filing duties covered by the base fee, and excludes adversary proceedings. Priced-separately motions vary by district; North Carolina's Middle District charges $500 to modify a plan.