Torn between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13? Learn what each costs to file and how long each runs.
Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13: What Each Costs to File and How Long Each Takes
Learn how they compare on what the courts publish: $338 against $313 in court fees (a lawyer's fee is separate), a Chapter 7 discharge that can come about 60 to 90 days after the creditors meeting against a 3 or 5 year Chapter 13 plan, and the attorney fees each side records.
By the end you will know: the $25 fee difference and where it comes from; every dated step of each chapter's timeline; what each discharge covers and leaves out.
Quick answer
The court fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13, in every district. In a Chapter 7 case the meeting of creditors can be held 21 to 40 days after filing and, in most cases, the discharge order issues 60 to 90 days after the date first set for that meeting. A Chapter 13 plan runs 3 years when current monthly income is below the state median and generally 5 years above it, payments start within 30 days of filing, and the discharge comes after the last plan payment. A lawyer's fee is separate and is the open variable: Chapter 13 courts publish no-look fees that can run from $3,500 to $12,000 in the 27 districts sourced on this site, while the only Chapter 7 figure in the court documents read is the Western District of Missouri's flat fee of $3,600 below the median income or $4,100 above it.
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By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
Three things you can look up before the chapter question comes up.
1
Find the median for your household size
It sets the Chapter 13 plan length at three or five years and opens the Chapter 7 means test; the means test chart in this section has every state's figure.
2
Read Form 103A if the fee needs splitting
In either chapter the court can let you, as an individual, pay the court fee in up to 4 installments within 120 days, and your application goes in with the petition.
3
Read what each discharge leaves out before counting a debt as gone
Most alimony and child support, certain taxes and most government-backed student loans survive either discharge; the discharge section below lists what Chapter 13 reaches that Chapter 7 does not.
Which chapter fits your situation depends on facts this page cannot know; it compares what the courts publish and recommends nothing.
Which chapter costs less to file? $313 against $338, and why
Both come from 28 U.S.C. 1930(a) and the fee schedule in force since December 1, 2023, the same in every state. The $25 difference is $10 in the statutory filing fee ($245 against $235) plus the $15 trustee surcharge, which only a Chapter 7 petition carries. These are court fees only; a lawyer's fee is separate.
Chapter 7: $338
$245 filing fee under 28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(1)(A), $78 administrative fee (fee schedule item 8) and a $15 trustee surcharge (item 9, 11 U.S.C. 330(b)(2)). You can pay it in up to four installments within 120 days with the court's permission, or it can be waived for an individual under 150 percent of the poverty line who cannot pay even in installments (28 U.S.C. 1930(f)).
Chapter 13: $313
$235 filing fee under 28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(1)(B) and the same $78 administrative fee; no trustee surcharge. You can pay it in up to four installments within 120 days with the court's permission; the 1930(f) waiver is written for Chapter 7.
Learn the five steps of a Chapter 7 case, from credit counseling to the discharge order.
No repayment plan: the trustee sells any nonexempt assets, and the case moves to discharge on a short clock.
1
Credit counseling within the 180 days before filing
From an approved agency, in an individual or group briefing; the certificate, and any debt management plan that comes out of it, is filed with the case.
2
The petition and the $338 fee
The petition, schedules and statements are filed with the court fee or with an application to pay in installments or, for a Chapter 7 filer who qualifies, to have the fee waived.
3
Meeting of creditors, 21 to 40 days after filing
The case trustee questions the debtor under oath, including about the consequences of a discharge, the effect on credit history and the option of a different chapter.
4
The trustee's report and any sale of nonexempt assets
Within 10 days after the meeting, the U.S. trustee reports whether the case should be presumed an abuse under the means test; the case trustee sells any nonexempt assets and pays creditors from the proceeds.
5
Discharge, generally 60 to 90 days after the date first set for the meeting
Issued then unless a party objects or asks for more time (uscourts.gov). Completing an approved financial management course is a condition of it.
Learn the six steps of a Chapter 13 case, from filing the plan to the discharge after the last payment.
A repayment plan with a court-set length, running for years, not months.
1
Credit counseling within the 180 days before filing
The same requirement as Chapter 7: an approved agency, within 180 days before filing, certificate filed with the case.
2
The petition, the $313 fee and the plan within 14 days
Unless the court grants an extension, the plan is filed with the petition or within 14 days after it.
3
First plan payment within 30 days of filing
Payments to the trustee start within 30 days after filing, even before the plan is approved.
4
Meeting of creditors 21 to 50 days after filing, then a confirmation hearing
Within 45 days after the meeting, the judge holds a confirmation hearing and decides whether the plan is feasible and meets the standards in the Bankruptcy Code.
5
Payments for three or five years
Three years when current monthly income is below the state median for the household size, five when above; shorter only if unsecured debt is paid in full sooner, and never longer than five years.
6
Discharge after the last plan payment
On completing all plan payments, if domestic support that came due is paid, no discharge was received in a prior case within the look-back (two years for a prior Chapter 13, four for a prior Chapter 7, 11 or 12), and the financial management course is complete where courses are available.
Learn the Chapter 13 no-look attorney fees courts publish, and the one Chapter 7 figure found.
Many courts set a flat Chapter 13 attorney fee they approve without a detailed fee application (a no-look fee), a lawyer's fee separate from the court fee. In the 27 districts with a sourced amount on this site it can run from $3,500 (N.D. Texas) to $12,000 (E.D. California), with 17 of the 27 between $4,500 and $5,500 and a median of $4,600; the cost guide lists every district with its order.
Only one court found publishes a Chapter 7 figure: the Western District of Missouri's Local Rule 2016-1 lets a Chapter 7 attorney skip the fee application for a flat fee of $3,600 or less in a below-median income case, or $4,100 or less above the median, the same amounts its Local Rule 2016-2 sets for Chapter 13 work before confirmation. This site estimates no Chapter 7 fee for any other district.
Learn which debts Chapter 13 can discharge that Chapter 7 cannot, and which survive both.
uscourts.gov says the Chapter 13 discharge is somewhat broader than the Chapter 7 discharge. Debts dischargeable in Chapter 13 but not in Chapter 7 include debts for willful and malicious injury to property (as opposed to a person), debts incurred to pay nondischargeable tax obligations, and debts arising from property settlements in divorce or separation proceedings. Both pages list debts that survive either discharge, among them most alimony and child support, certain taxes, most government-funded or government-backed student loans, and debts for death or personal injury caused by driving while intoxicated.
A Chapter 13 debtor who cannot finish a confirmed plan may ask for a hardship discharge, generally available only when the failure is due to circumstances beyond the debtor's control and through no fault of the debtor, among other conditions.
Learn the limits of this page: it compares published facts and weighs nothing for anyone.
It compares the two chapters on what the federal courts publish: fees, deadlines, plan length and the scope of the discharge. It does not weigh them for you or for any other person.
Nothing here is legal advice or a prediction for any matter, and this site does not provide bankruptcy assistance.
Learn where the fees, steps and discharge rules come from and the date they were checked.
Fees come from the fee schedule and 28 U.S.C. 1930, confirmed on a court's own fee page; every timeline step and discharge rule comes from the uscourts.gov Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Basics pages, checked October 14, 2026. Nothing is estimated.
In court fees, Chapter 13 is $25 less ($313 against $338): $10 in the statutory filing fee ($245 against $235) plus the $15 trustee surcharge, which only a Chapter 7 petition carries. Attorney fees cannot be compared from published sources: many courts publish a Chapter 13 no-look fee, and only the Western District of Missouri publishes a Chapter 7 figure.
uscourts.gov says the meeting of creditors can be held 21 to 40 days after the petition is filed and, in most cases, the discharge order issues 60 to 90 days after the date first set for that meeting.
Three years below the state median for the household size and five years above it, with payments starting within 30 days of filing; no plan may run longer than five years (uscourts.gov).
Only if unsecured debt is paid in full over the shorter period, according to the Chapter 13 Basics page.
Yes. Credit counseling from an approved agency within the 180 days before filing applies to any chapter, and an approved financial management course is required before a Chapter 7 discharge and, where courses are available, before a Chapter 13 discharge.
No. uscourts.gov says the Chapter 13 discharge is somewhat broader: for example, debts for willful and malicious injury to property, debts incurred to pay nondischargeable taxes, and divorce property-settlement debts can be discharged in Chapter 13 but not in Chapter 7.
The debtor may ask the court for a hardship discharge, which uscourts.gov says is generally available only when the failure to pay is beyond the debtor's control and through no fault of the debtor, among other conditions.
No. It compares the published fees, deadlines and discharge rules and makes no recommendation for anyone.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.
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