Filing bankruptcy in Utah means choosing between Chapter 7, which erases most unsecured debt in about four months, or Chapter 13, which restructures what you owe into a three-to-five-year repayment plan. Both are filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah, both follow federal law, and both rely on Utah’s own exemption statutes to decide what property you keep. Which chapter fits depends on your income, your debt load, and how much equity sits in your home and car.
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13
Chapter 7 is a liquidation. A trustee reviews your assets, sells anything not protected by an exemption, and distributes the proceeds to creditors. Most remaining unsecured debts — credit cards, medical bills, personal loans — are discharged. In practice, most Chapter 7 cases are “no-asset” cases: everything the filer owns fits within the exemptions, nothing gets sold, and the whole case wraps in roughly four months.
Chapter 13 keeps your property intact. You propose a court-approved plan to repay some or all of your debts over three to five years using future income.1United States Courts. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics It is the chapter of choice if you have fallen behind on your mortgage and want to stop a foreclosure, because the plan lets you catch up on arrears over time while resuming regular monthly payments.
The Means Test
Chapter 7 is not open to everyone. The Means Test compares your average monthly gross income over the six months before filing to the median income for a Utah household your size.2U.S. Trustee Program. Means Testing As of November 2025, the Utah medians are:
- One earner: $85,644
- Two-person household: $93,302
- Three-person household: $109,860
- Four-person household: $128,363
Add $11,100 for each person beyond four.3U.S. Department of Justice. Median Family Income Table These numbers update periodically, so confirm the current figure on the U.S. Trustee’s site before you file.
Fall under the median and you pass. Rise above it and a second calculation subtracts allowable living expenses, secured debt payments, and priority debts to see whether enough disposable income remains to fund a repayment plan. If the math shows you could meaningfully repay unsecured creditors, filing Chapter 7 triggers a presumption of abuse and the court will push you toward Chapter 13.
Chapter 13 Debt Limits
Chapter 13 has its own entry rules. You need regular income, and your debts must sit below set ceilings. For cases filed on or after April 1, 2025, unsecured debts must be under $526,700 and secured debts under $1,580,125.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor Exceed either limit and Chapter 13 is unavailable; Chapter 11 becomes the fallback.
What You Keep: Utah’s Exemptions
Utah has opted out of the federal bankruptcy exemptions, so you must use Utah’s statutes to protect your property.5Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-5-513 – Exemption Provisions Applicable in Bankruptcy Proceedings In Chapter 7, anything unprotected is fair game for the trustee. In Chapter 13, exemptions still matter: your plan must pay unsecured creditors at least what they would have received had your non-exempt property been liquidated.
Your Home
You can protect up to $42,000 of equity in your primary residence. A married couple who both own the home can stack the exemption for $84,000 per household.6Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-5-503 – Homestead Exemption Equity is the fair market value minus the mortgage balance. If the property is not your primary residence, the exemption drops to $5,000 per person. Longtime owners whose homes have appreciated well past the cap are the ones most at risk; recent buyers usually find the mortgage balance has swallowed most of the equity.
Your Car
Utah protects up to $3,000 of equity in one motor vehicle.7Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-5-506 – Value of Exempt Property – Exemption of Implements, Professional Books, Tools, and Motor Vehicles A $15,000 car with a $13,000 loan has $2,000 in equity, fully covered. A paid-off $10,000 car is only partly protected: the trustee could sell it and return $3,000 to you in cash.
Tools of the Trade
A separate exemption protects up to $5,000 in tools, professional books, and equipment you actually use in your primary occupation, including a work vehicle if you haven’t already claimed the motor vehicle exemption on it.7Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-5-506 – Value of Exempt Property – Exemption of Implements, Professional Books, Tools, and Motor Vehicles
Household Goods
Certain household items are exempt without any dollar cap: washer, dryer, refrigerator, freezer, stove, microwave, sewing machine, carpets, beds and bedding, a year’s provisions, and all clothing for you and your dependents (jewelry and furs excepted).8Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-5-505 – Property Exempt From Execution
Beyond those, you can exempt up to $1,000 in each of four more categories: living room furnishings, dining and kitchen furniture, animals and books and musical instruments for personal use, and heirlooms or items of sentimental value.7Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-5-506 – Value of Exempt Property – Exemption of Implements, Professional Books, Tools, and Motor Vehicles Utah offers no general “wildcard” exemption, so assets that don’t fit a named category have no backup protection.
Retirement Accounts
ERISA-qualified employer plans like 401(k)s and pensions are fully exempt with no dollar cap. Traditional and Roth IRAs are protected up to $1,711,975 per person for cases filed between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2028.9Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases For most filers, the IRA ceiling is a non-issue.
Debts Bankruptcy Won’t Erase
Some debts survive both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. The ones that catch filers off guard most often:
- Child support and alimony — all domestic support obligations survive in full.
- Most tax debts, including recent income taxes, taxes where no return was filed, and anything involving fraud. Older income taxes can sometimes be discharged if they meet specific age and filing requirements.
- Student loans, unless you file a separate adversary proceeding and prove undue hardship.
- Debts obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.
- Debts arising from willful injury to a person or property.
- Liability for death or injury caused by driving while intoxicated.
- Criminal fines, traffic tickets, and most other government penalties.
Debts you forget to list can also survive if the creditor doesn’t learn about the case in time to participate.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Build a thorough creditor list before you file.
What It Costs
Court fees total $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13. The breakdown: a filing fee of $245 (Chapter 7) or $235 (Chapter 13), a $78 administrative fee for both, and a $15 trustee surcharge in Chapter 7.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees Chapter 7 filers who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it or let them pay in installments. Chapter 13 filers don’t get fee waivers; the court assumes anyone proposing a multi-year repayment plan can cover $313.
Attorney fees are separate, and Chapter 13 cases generally cost more than Chapter 7 because they are more complex. The required pre-filing credit counseling course and the post-filing debtor education course each run roughly $15 to $75 from approved providers.
How Filing Actually Works
Credit Counseling and Paperwork
Federal law requires an individual or group credit counseling session within 180 days before you file.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor It must come from a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program, and you can take it by phone or online.13United States Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information Skip it and your case gets dismissed.
Before filing, gather pay stubs covering at least the 60 days before filing, federal and state tax returns for the last two years, bank and investment statements, any real property appraisals, and a complete list of every creditor with mailing addresses and account numbers. Missing or sloppy schedules delay the case and draw trustee scrutiny.
Filing and the Automatic Stay
You submit your petition and supporting schedules to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah.14United States Bankruptcy Court District of Utah. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Petition Package The moment the petition is filed, the automatic stay takes effect and halts most collection activity: lawsuits, wage garnishments, foreclosure proceedings, and creditor phone calls.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay A creditor who ignores the stay can be held in contempt. The stay does not stop criminal proceedings, collection of support obligations from non-estate property, most family law matters, tax audits, or government regulatory enforcement. If you had a prior bankruptcy dismissed in the past year, the stay may last only 30 days or may not take effect at all.
The 341 Meeting
Twenty to forty days after filing, you attend the meeting of creditors, known as the 341 meeting. It is not a courtroom hearing. The trustee asks you questions under oath about your identity, finances, and the accuracy of your schedules. Creditors can attend but rarely do. In Utah, all Chapter 7, 12, and 13 meetings are held by Zoom for cases filed on or after December 1, 2022.16U.S. Department of Justice. Region 19 – Local Section 341 Meeting Information Bring a valid photo ID and proof of your Social Security number.
Discharge
In Chapter 7, the discharge order usually enters about 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting, roughly four months after filing.17United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics In Chapter 13, discharge comes only after you complete every plan payment, so three to five years after filing.
Before the court issues the discharge in either chapter, you must complete a debtor education course (sometimes called a financial management course) from an approved provider.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge It is separate from the pre-filing counseling. Skipping it is one of the easiest ways to lose your discharge, and it happens more often than it should. Finish it shortly after the 341 meeting.
What It Does to Your Credit
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a bankruptcy filing can stay on your credit report for up to ten years from the filing date.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports The major bureaus generally report Chapter 7 for the full ten years and Chapter 13 for seven, though the statute itself sets a single ten-year ceiling.
The impact is heaviest in the first two to three years, when credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages at good rates are hard to come by. Many Chapter 7 filers see meaningful score improvement within 12 to 18 months of discharge, partly because the discharge itself clears the unpaid balances that were weighing the score down. The credit hit is temporary; the debt relief is permanent.