How Often Can You File Bankruptcy in Wisconsin: Waiting Periods by Chapter

Federal law does not limit how often you can file bankruptcy in Wisconsin, but it does set mandatory waits between cases if you want the second one to actually discharge your debts. The gap runs anywhere from two years to eight years depending on which chapter you filed before and which chapter you want to file now. Filing too early won’t get your case kicked out at the door, but the court will deny your discharge, leaving you with filing fees and attorney costs and none of the relief you were after.

The Four Waiting Periods Between Discharges

Every interval below is measured from the filing date of the earlier case to the filing date of the new one, not from the date the court actually entered the prior discharge.

Chapter 7 After Chapter 7: Eight Years

The longest wait in the Bankruptcy Code. You need eight full years between the two filing dates before the court can grant a second Chapter 7 discharge.¹ Chapter 7 wipes out most unsecured debt without any repayment plan, so Congress attached the longest cooling-off period to it. File a day early and you lose the discharge while still owing the $338 filing fee and whatever your attorney has already billed.²

Chapter 13 After Chapter 13: Two Years

Only two years between filing dates.³ Because Chapter 13 plans themselves run three to five years, most people who finish a plan are already eligible to refile under Chapter 13 the moment new trouble appears.⁴ The filing fee is $313.² You’ll also need to fit within the Chapter 13 debt ceilings: unsecured debts below $526,700 and secured debts below $1,580,125.

Chapter 13 After Chapter 7: Four Years

Four years from the Chapter 7 filing date before a Chapter 13 discharge becomes available.³ Practitioners sometimes call this combination a “Chapter 20”: the Chapter 7 wipes out qualifying unsecured debt, and the follow-up Chapter 13 handles whatever survived, such as tax arrears, mortgage back payments, or car loans.

You can file the Chapter 13 sooner than four years if you need the automatic stay to stop a foreclosure or catch up on a vehicle. The plan still works and the stay still protects you. You just won’t get a discharge at the end, so any unsecured balance left over when the plan finishes remains legally owed.³

Chapter 7 After Chapter 13: Six Years, With Exceptions

Six years from the Chapter 13 filing date to a Chapter 7 discharge, and this is the one timing rule with escape hatches.¹ The six-year bar does not apply if either of the following is true in your prior Chapter 13:

You paid 100% of all allowed unsecured claims under the plan.
You paid at least 70% of allowed unsecured claims, the plan was proposed in good faith, and it represented your best effort to repay creditors.

Hit either mark and you can file a Chapter 7 immediately. Fall short on both, and the six-year wait is firm.

Refiling After a Dismissal Is Different

A dismissal ends your case with no relief; nothing was discharged, so the chapter-sequence waits above don’t come into play. In most situations you can refile right away. The law carves out a 180-day bar in two specific circumstances:⁵

The court dismissed your case because you willfully failed to follow court orders or skipped required hearings.
A creditor filed a motion to lift the automatic stay (typically to foreclose or repossess) and you responded by voluntarily dismissing the case.

The second rule targets the pattern of filing to freeze a foreclosure, dismissing before the court can look closely, then filing again. A dismissal for a routine issue like a missing document or an unpaid fee usually does not trigger the 180-day bar.

A judge can also dismiss a case “with prejudice,” which sets its own refiling ban tailored to the facts. Those orders can block a new filing for a year or longer.

The Automatic Stay Shrinks for Repeat Filers

The automatic stay is often the whole reason people file: it stops wage garnishments, foreclosure sales, repossessions, and collection calls the instant the petition is docketed. For repeat filers inside a one-year window, that protection is cut back sharply.

File a new case within one year of having a prior case dismissed, and the stay expires 30 days into the new case unless you file a motion and persuade the court by clear and convincing evidence that the new filing is in good faith.⁶ The presumption runs against you, so the burden to overcome it is yours. Miss the 30-day window and the stay simply disappears.

Had two or more cases dismissed in the prior year? The stay does not take effect at all when you file the new one.⁶ You can ask the court to impose it, but until a judge actually does, creditors are free to keep garnishing, calling, and foreclosing as if no petition had been filed. People counting on the automatic breathing room are often shocked to discover there isn’t any.

What You Have to Redo Every Time

Nothing from your prior case carries over. Each new filing requires:

A fresh pre-filing credit counseling certificate, completed before the petition is filed.
A fresh post-filing debtor education certificate, completed after filing but before discharge. No certificate, no discharge.
The current filing fee for the chapter you choose.

Both courses must come from an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program, they typically cost between $10 and $50 each, and they cannot be taken on the same day.⁷⁸

A second Chapter 7 also means passing the means test again against Wisconsin’s current median income figures, which the Justice Department updates periodically. For cases filed on or after April 1, 2026, the thresholds are $71,168 for a one-person household, $90,252 for two, $108,516 for three, and $133,384 for four, plus $11,100 for each additional person.⁹ Earn above the applicable figure and you move to the expense-based calculation before you can stay in Chapter 7.

Quick Reference

Chapter 7 after Chapter 7: 8 years from the prior filing date.¹
Chapter 13 after Chapter 13: 2 years from the prior filing date.³
Chapter 13 after Chapter 7: 4 years from the prior filing date.³
Chapter 7 after Chapter 13: 6 years from the prior filing date, waived if you paid 100% of unsecured claims or at least 70% in good faith.¹
After a bad-faith or noncompliance dismissal, or a voluntary dismissal following a stay-relief motion: 180 days from dismissal.⁵

These federal rules apply the same way whether your case is heard in the Eastern District in Milwaukee or the Western District in Madison. Before refiling, run the dates against the right rule, confirm you can meet the counseling and fee requirements again, and look hard at the shrunken stay. If a second filing won’t actually produce a discharge, it will produce a bill and nothing else.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge
2
United States Bankruptcy Court. Fee Schedule
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
4
United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
7
United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses
8
United States Department of Justice. List of Credit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant to 11 USC 111
9
United States Department of Justice. Median Family Income Table – On or After April 1, 2026