Filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Florida generally runs between $1,400 and $3,500 out of pocket once you add the $338 court filing fee, two required financial courses, and your attorney’s fee. Chapter 13 looks more expensive on paper, but most of the attorney’s fee and trustee costs get folded into your three-to-five-year repayment plan rather than paid before you file. The real cost to file bankruptcy in Florida depends on which chapter you file, the complexity of your case, and whether you qualify for a fee waiver or installment plan.
The Court Filing Fee
Federal law sets the filing fee, and it’s the same across Florida’s Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts. Chapter 7 is $338, made up of a $245 filing fee, a $78 administrative fee, and a $15 trustee surcharge.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees Chapter 13 is $313: a $235 filing fee plus the same $78 administrative fee.2United States Bankruptcy Court. Filing Fees These fees are not refunded if your case gets dismissed, so once you file, treat them as spent.
Attorney Fees
Attorney fees are the biggest variable in what you’ll pay, and they’re the line item most likely to surprise you.
For a Chapter 7 case in Florida, most attorneys charge a flat fee of $1,000 to $3,000, collected before the petition is filed. A case at the lower end is typically simple: few assets, no business interests, no fights with secured creditors. A disputed property claim or complicated income history pushes the price up.
Chapter 13 fees run higher because the attorney’s work stretches across the full repayment plan. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida sets a “normal and customary” fee of $5,000 for a routine Chapter 13 case.3United States Bankruptcy Court. Attorney Fees in Chapter 13 Cases in Accordance with Standing Order Statewide, Chapter 13 fees typically fall between $3,500 and $6,000. The upside is that most or all of that fee gets paid through your plan rather than upfront.
Many Florida bankruptcy courts use what practitioners call a “no-look” or presumptive fee, an amount the court treats as reasonable for a routine case without requiring itemized billing. If your case is unusually complex, the attorney can ask for more, but they’ll need to justify it with time records. You and your attorney can also agree to a lower amount.
Credit Counseling and Debtor Education
Two courses are required by federal law, and each has a small fee.
The first is a credit counseling briefing you take within the 180 days before filing. It covers budgeting and alternatives to bankruptcy, and it has to come from a nonprofit provider approved by the U.S. Trustee’s Office.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 109 – Who May Be a Debtor The Department of Justice keeps a searchable list.5United States Department of Justice. List of Credit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant to 11 USC 111 Most providers charge between $10 and $50.
The second is a debtor education course (sometimes called personal financial management training) that you complete after filing but before discharge. In both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, skipping it means the court cannot discharge your debts.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 727 – Discharge7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 1328 – Discharge It also runs $10 to $50. Budget roughly $20 to $100 for both courses combined.
If You Can’t Afford the Filing Fee
Chapter 7 filers who can’t pay the $338 up front have two options.
The first is a full fee waiver under 28 U.S.C. § 1930(f). You qualify if your household income is below 150% of the federal poverty line and you cannot pay even in installments.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees For 2026, that threshold is $23,940 for a single person, $32,460 for a household of two, $40,980 for three, and $49,500 for four.8HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines You apply by filing Form 103B alongside your petition. Fee waivers are not available in Chapter 13, because the existence of a repayment plan implies some ability to pay.
The second is paying in installments. You file Form 103A with your petition, and the court can split the fee into up to four payments across 120 days, extendable to 180 days for good cause. One rule catches people off guard: while you’re paying the filing fee in installments, neither you nor a Chapter 13 trustee may pay your attorney or any other professional on the case.9Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee The court’s fee has priority.
The Ongoing Cost of Chapter 13
Chapter 13 costs don’t stop at the filing fee and attorney retainer. Every payment you make through your plan gets routed through a standing trustee, who takes a percentage before distributing the rest to creditors. Federal law caps that fee at 10% of plan payments.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 586 – Duties; Supervision by Attorney General Some Florida trustees set the actual fee at 8.5% to 9%, but attorneys commonly build plans assuming 10% to leave room for fluctuations.
The practical effect is that your plan payment is always higher than the amount reaching creditors. If your plan calls for $500 a month to creditors, you might actually pay $550 or more to cover the trustee’s cut. Over a five-year plan, that adds up to thousands. It’s not negotiable, and it’s baked into every Chapter 13 case.
Other costs can appear mid-plan. If you need to modify your plan after a job loss or income change, your attorney may charge additional fees beyond the initial no-look amount.
Filing Without an Attorney
You can file pro se, which cuts out the largest single cost. Bankruptcy courts themselves warn that this is “extremely difficult to do successfully.” The rules are technical, and a missed document or wrong schedule can get your case dismissed, your discharge denied, or your right to refile restricted. Individual cases are also randomly audited, and knowingly filing false information is bankruptcy fraud under federal law, punishable by up to five years in prison.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery
For a simple Chapter 7 with no assets, no business income, and nothing unusual about the debt, going without a lawyer is at least plausible. Chapter 13 is a different matter. Building a confirmable plan, running the disposable-income calculations, and negotiating with secured creditors over three to five years makes self-representation genuinely risky. Weigh the attorney fee against the cost of a dismissed case and having to start over.
When Each Fee Is Due
The court filing fee is due when you submit your petition unless you’ve applied for installments or a waiver. Each Florida district has its own payment rules. The Southern District accepts cash in person, cashier’s checks, money orders, and checks drawn on an attorney’s trust or operating account. Personal checks from debtors are not accepted, and attorneys registered for electronic filing pay by credit card through the system.12United States Bankruptcy Court. Fees – Form of Payment The Middle and Northern Districts follow similar but not identical procedures, so check with your clerk’s office.
Chapter 7 attorney fees are almost always collected before the petition is filed, because once your case opens, the automatic stay and bankruptcy rules complicate further payments. Chapter 13 attorney fees work differently: the attorney takes a portion upfront and receives the rest through the plan, which is a big reason Chapter 13 is more accessible for people who can’t write a large check on day one. Course fees for credit counseling and debtor education are paid directly to the provider when you take each course.
A Chapter 7 case typically runs about three to four months from petition to discharge. The Southern District’s published timeline puts the financial management course and the discharge order roughly 80 to 100 days after filing.13United States Bankruptcy Court. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Timeline Chapter 13 lasts the length of the repayment plan, so three to five years of payments before discharge.