Chapter 7 filers below 150 percent of the poverty line can request a complete waiver of the $338 filing fee. The form is short and most qualifying applications are granted on the papers.
Most applications take 30 minutes to prepare and are decided within a week of filing.
Fee waivers are only available in Chapter 7. If you need to file under Chapter 13 (because you want to save a home from foreclosure, for example), you must use the installment payment plan instead, not the waiver.
Your household income must be below 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline for your household size. The current poverty guidelines are at aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines. Multiply by 1.5 for the 150% threshold.
Download Official Form 103B from uscourts.gov. The form is two pages and asks for income, expenses, dependents, and assets.
List your monthly take-home income from all sources: wages, self-employment, rental, child support, government benefits. Use the same numbers you will put on Schedule I; consistency matters because the trustee compares them.
List monthly expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, medical, child care. Match Schedule J. The court is looking at whether income minus expenses leaves anything for the filing fee.
Disclose assets honestly. Substantial unencumbered property weighs against a waiver. Disclose any prior bankruptcy filings within the last eight years.
The waiver application is filed at the same time as your petition. The court reviews and either grants the waiver, denies it, sets a hearing, or grants installments instead.
Most courts default to allowing installments if a waiver is denied. The case continues; you have 120 days to pay the fee in up to four installments. A denied waiver does not require you to pay the full fee at filing.
No. Whether you paid the filing fee, paid in installments, or had it waived has no effect on the discharge. The waiver is purely about court administrative cost.
Some approved counseling agencies offer fee waivers based on income. Ask the agency directly; the bankruptcy court does not control these fees.
Apply anyway. The judge can grant the waiver in the interest of justice even if you are slightly over, particularly if you have unusual expenses (medical, etc.). The form has a section for explanatory information.
Yes. The income calculation uses net earnings, not gross. Self-employed filers should attach a year-to-date profit and loss statement showing the net figure they used on Form 103B.
After applying for the waiver: