Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Georgia: Means Test, Exemptions, and Filing

Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Georgia lets qualifying residents eliminate most unsecured debts, such as credit card balances and medical bills, in roughly four months from the filing date. The case works by liquidating any non-exempt assets to pay creditors, then wiping out remaining qualifying debts through a court discharge order. Because Georgia has opted out of the federal exemption system, state law controls what property you keep, and those limits are modest compared to many other states.

Who Qualifies Under the Means Test

Federal law screens Chapter 7 applicants through a means test designed to push higher earners into a Chapter 13 repayment plan instead. The test adds up your average monthly gross income over the six full calendar months before filing and annualizes that figure. If the result falls below Georgia’s median income for a household your size, you qualify without further analysis.¹

For cases filed between November 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, Georgia’s median income thresholds are:

One earner: $66,722
Household of two: $82,787
Household of three: $98,877
Household of four: $120,315

Each additional person beyond four adds $11,100.² The figures are updated twice a year, so verify the current table if you file after March 2026.

Income above the median does not automatically disqualify you. The second part of the test subtracts standardized living expenses from your income using IRS allowance tables for housing, transportation, healthcare, and similar necessities. Only the leftover disposable income matters, and if that remainder multiplied by 60 months comes to less than a set dollar threshold, you can still proceed.¹

One exception matters. If more than half of your total debt comes from a failed business or other non-consumer obligations, the means test does not apply at all and your income is irrelevant to eligibility.

What Property You Can Keep

Georgia has opted out of the federal bankruptcy exemption system, so you must use the state’s own exemption list.³ You also need to have been domiciled in Georgia for at least the 180 days before filing, or for a longer portion of that period than in any other state. Recent relocators may be stuck using their prior state’s exemptions.

The key categories under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100 are:

Homestead: up to $21,500 in equity in your primary residence. When only one spouse holds title and files, the exemption increases to $43,000.
Motor vehicle: up to $5,000 in equity across all vehicles you own.
Wildcard: up to $1,200 in any property, plus any unused portion of your homestead exemption up to $10,000. A renter with no home equity can shelter up to $11,200 in other assets this way.
Jewelry: up to $500 used personally by you or your dependents.
Tools of the trade: up to $1,500 in professional books, tools, or equipment used for your work.

Married couples holding real estate as tenants by the entirety get an additional layer. Under federal law, property held in that form is shielded from the trustee when the debt belongs to only one spouse.⁴ Retirement accounts are also well protected: ERISA-qualified plans like 401(k)s and pensions are shielded under federal law, and Georgia separately exempts individual retirement accounts under O.C.G.A. § 18-4-6.

The exemption numbers deserve a hard look before you file. If your home equity exceeds $21,500 (or $43,000 for a single-filing spouse on solely owned property), the trustee can sell the house, pay you the exempt amount, and distribute the rest to creditors. The same logic applies to a vehicle with more than $5,000 in equity. Add up what you own, subtract what you owe on it, and compare the remainder to the exemption line for each category.

Debts That Survive Chapter 7

Most unsecured debt disappears, but federal law carves out several categories that survive the discharge regardless of your financial situation. Knowing them in advance avoids the surprise of filing bankruptcy and still owing your largest obligation.

Child support and alimony survive unconditionally.
Recent income taxes, taxes where no return was filed, and tax debts involving fraud or evasion cannot be discharged.
Student loans survive unless you file a separate lawsuit within your bankruptcy case (an adversary proceeding) and prove “undue hardship” under a strict test few debtors meet, though the Department of Justice has standardized its review process for federal student loans.
Debts obtained through fraud or misrepresentation, including those based on a materially false financial statement a creditor relied on.
Debts for death or personal injury caused by driving while intoxicated.
Criminal fines and restitution that are not compensation for actual financial loss.
Debts arising from willful injury to another person or their property.

⁵

Recent spending can also backfire. Luxury purchases exceeding $900 from a single creditor within 90 days before filing are presumed non-dischargeable, as are cash advances totaling more than $1,250 within 70 days before filing.⁵ Creditors do not always challenge these, but loading up credit cards right before filing invites objections.

Keeping a Financed Car or Home

Chapter 7 discharges your personal liability on a debt, but it does not remove a lender’s lien on property that secures the loan. To keep a financed car or similar asset, you generally sign a reaffirmation agreement with the lender. That agreement is essentially a new contract: you remain personally liable for the debt as if you never filed, in exchange for keeping the property and having payments reported to credit bureaus.

The risk is real. If you reaffirm and later cannot pay, the lender can repossess and still pursue you for any deficiency balance, and you have lost the bankruptcy protection you otherwise would have had on that debt. The agreement must be filed with the court before discharge, and if you filed without an attorney, the judge must find it does not impose undue hardship.⁶

There is a built-in safety valve. You can cancel any reaffirmation agreement at any time before discharge or within 60 days after the agreement is filed with the court, whichever is later.⁶ Compare the car’s value to the loan balance and the monthly payment before signing. If you are upside down, reaffirming can lock in the problem the bankruptcy was meant to solve.

The Filing Process and Timeline

Two educational courses bracket the case, and missing either one derails it. The first is a credit counseling briefing completed within 180 days before filing, from a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Trustee’s office. The agency issues a certificate that gets filed with your petition.⁷ The second is a debtor education course taken after filing but before discharge. Skip it and the court will deny your discharge, meaning you went through the whole case for nothing.⁸ Both are available online and generally cost about $20 each.

You file in the federal bankruptcy district where you live: Northern (Atlanta metro and surrounding counties), Middle, or Southern Georgia. The main filing document is the Voluntary Petition for Individuals, Official Form 101.⁹ You will also complete Schedules A through J listing all real estate, personal property, income, expenses, and debts. Each debt is categorized as secured or unsecured, and each asset is listed at fair market value with the Georgia exemption you claim for it.

Accuracy is not optional. Hiding assets, inflating expenses, or omitting creditors can result in a denied discharge, and bankruptcy fraud carries federal criminal penalties of up to five years in prison.¹⁰ Innocent mistakes create problems too: a creditor you forgot to list may not be discharged at all.

The moment your petition is accepted, the court issues an automatic stay that stops most collection activity. Creditor lawsuits pause, wage garnishments halt, and collection calls must stop, all without a separate motion or hearing. One exception: if you had a bankruptcy dismissed within the past year, the new stay expires after 30 days unless you ask the court to extend it, and with two or more prior dismissals in that year you get no automatic stay at all without petitioning for one.¹¹

Between 21 and 40 days after filing, you attend a meeting of creditors, called a 341 meeting after the Bankruptcy Code section that requires it. Creditors rarely show up. The trustee runs the meeting, almost always over Zoom, and asks questions under oath about your financial disclosures, confirms your identity, and evaluates whether any non-exempt assets exist.¹² Most Georgia Chapter 7 cases are “no-asset” cases, meaning everything the debtor owns is either exempt or not worth the cost of selling.

If no objections are filed and you have completed the debtor education course, the court typically enters a discharge order about four months after filing.¹³ Creditors are then legally barred from ever attempting to collect the discharged debts.

The 180-Day Windfall Rule

Your estate does not necessarily close when you file. Certain assets you receive within 180 days after filing become part of the estate as if you had owned them on the filing date. The rule applies specifically to inheritances, life insurance proceeds, and property received through a divorce settlement.¹⁴ Wages earned after filing are yours, but if a relative dies within that six-month window, the trustee can claim the inheritance.

What It Costs

The court filing fee is $338, and you can apply for an installment plan or, if your income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, a fee waiver.¹⁵ Attorney fees for a straightforward Georgia Chapter 7 case generally run between $800 and $3,000, with Atlanta-area firms at the higher end. Add roughly $40 for the two required courses. Most filers should budget between $1,200 and $3,400 all in. Filing without an attorney drops costs to the court and course fees, but bankruptcy is one of the places where the savings rarely justify the risk.

Credit Impact and When You Can File Again

A Chapter 7 stays on your credit report for 10 years from the filing date. The hit to your score is severe at first and eases over time, especially if you begin rebuilding with a secured credit card or small installment loan shortly after discharge. Most people see meaningful recovery within two to three years, though results vary with post-bankruptcy behavior.

If you need Chapter 7 again later, federal law imposes an eight-year waiting period measured from the prior discharge date to the new filing date.⁸ A Chapter 13 case can be filed sooner if circumstances demand it, under different waiting rules.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13
2
United States Department of Justice. November 1, 2025 Median Income Table
3
Justia. Georgia Code 44-13-100 – Exemptions for Purposes of Bankruptcy and Intestate Insolvent Estates
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge
9
United States Courts. Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
12
United States Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors
13
United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 541 – Property of the Estate
15
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule