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Bankruptcy: what it is, what it costs, and where to start
For anyone who can no longer pay what they owe, and for the people helping them. This page passes on, by name, what the U.S. Courts, the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau say: what bankruptcy is and is not, what to try first, how Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 differ, the steps in order, what the court charges and how to ask for installments or a waiver, what filing stops, what it does not erase, and what happens afterwards. It does not tell you whether to file. It puts the questions you pick on one sheet, and prints a card to keep.
Before anything else
- Owing money is a situation, not a verdict on you. Bankruptcy is written into federal law, and the U.S. Courts describe its purpose as a fresh start.
- One course comes first. The U.S. Courts say no one may file without credit counseling from an approved agency in the 180 days before filing.
- If you can’t pay the fee, ask. The U.S. Courts say the court may allow up to four installments, and in Chapter 7 may waive the fees for people with very low income.
- Court staff cannot give legal advice. The U.S. Courts say the law prohibits it. Free legal aid can.
- A form preparer is not a lawyer. The U.S. Courts say a non-attorney petition preparer may only enter information into forms.
- If the weight turns into thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 at any hour. In danger right now? Call 911.
- This page saves nothing. There is nowhere on it to type your case. Your browser still keeps a history.
More help
- A collector is calling: When a debt collector calls.
- Nothing left this month: When the money runs out and Money plan, one month of money on one page.
- The house: When you can’t pay the mortgage.
- Hospital and doctor bills: When a medical bill is too much.
- Taxes you owe: Taxes: free help, and what to do if you can’t pay.
- The legal side: When you need a lawyer and can’t pay and When you have to go to court without a lawyer.
- Keeping track: Paper trail, a log of every call, letter and visit.
- An offer that feels off: Is this a scam?
- Right now: Get help now.
- All our free tools.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No lawyer has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 7, 2026 on each source’s own pages: the U.S. Courts’ pages “Bankruptcy”, “Chapter 7 - Bankruptcy Basics”, “Chapter 13 - Bankruptcy Basics”, “Discharge in Bankruptcy - Bankruptcy Basics”, “Filing Without an Attorney”, “Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses” and the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (effective December 1, 2023); the U.S. Trustee Program’s page on credit counseling and debtor education and its list of approved agencies; the Federal Trade Commission’s “How To Get Out of Debt” (December 2025); and one Consumer Financial Protection Bureau answer (last reviewed December 12, 2024). The U.S. Courts’ basics pages carry no date, and their fee figures differ from the fee schedule by three dollars: the page shows both. We did not read the Bankruptcy Code or its rules, any state’s exemptions, the means test tables, or the fee waiver procedures themselves, and we called no number. The page gives no state’s rules, no dollar limits for the means test or Chapter 13, no statistics, and does not say what a lawyer charges. Everything marked “ours” is ours. It saves nothing: no cookies, no storage, and no analytics on this page.