How to File Bankruptcy in Connecticut Without a Lawyer

To file bankruptcy in Connecticut without a lawyer, you complete a required credit counseling course, fill out the federal bankruptcy forms, and submit your petition to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut at its Hartford, Bridgeport, or New Haven office. The filing fee is $338 for a Chapter 7 case and $313 for a Chapter 13 case.¹ Self-represented filers (called “pro se” filers) are held to the same standards as attorneys, so every form has to be accurate and complete before you hand it in.

Decide Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13

The chapter you choose shapes everything that follows, so make this decision first.

Chapter 7 is a liquidation. A court-appointed trustee reviews your assets, sells any property that is not protected by an exemption, and uses the proceeds to pay creditors. Most remaining eligible debts are wiped out. The case typically runs three to four months from filing to discharge. Chapter 7 fits filers with limited income and few valuable assets beyond what exemptions protect.

Chapter 13 is a repayment plan. You propose a three-to-five-year plan to repay all or part of your debts from future income, and you generally keep your property, including a home in foreclosure, as long as you make plan payments. It suits filers with steady income who want to catch up on a mortgage or car loan.

Eligibility for Chapter 7 depends on the means test, which compares your household income to Connecticut’s median. If your income is too high, you may have to file under Chapter 13. Chapter 13 carries its own debt limits: after the temporary combined cap of $2,750,000 expired in June 2024, eligibility reverted to separate caps for secured and unsecured debt, and those caps are adjusted periodically. Check the current figures on the U.S. Trustee Program website before you file.

Complete Credit Counseling Before You File

Federal law requires every individual to complete a credit counseling briefing before filing a petition.² The session has to take place within the 180 days immediately before your filing date.³ A counselor reviews your income, expenses, and debts and helps you evaluate whether bankruptcy is your best option.

You must use an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program. The Department of Justice posts the approved list for Connecticut on its website.⁴ The agency issues a certificate when you finish, and that certificate goes in your filing packet. File without it and the court will dismiss your case.³

Gather Your Financial Documents

You will need these records to fill out the schedules accurately and to hand to the trustee:

Pay stubs or other proof of income received within the 60 days before filing.⁵
Your most recent federal tax return, which has to reach the trustee at least seven days before the meeting of creditors.⁵
Recent statements from checking, savings, and retirement accounts.
Current balances and payment terms for mortgages and other secured loans.
Statements and collection notices from credit cards, medical providers, and other creditors.
Vehicle titles, real estate deeds, and value estimates or appraisals.
Monthly expense records: utilities, rent or mortgage, insurance premiums, and similar recurring costs.

Fill Out the Bankruptcy Forms

All bankruptcy forms are free to download from the U.S. Courts website. Use the current versions; the court rejects outdated forms.

Official Form 101 is the Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy. It captures your name, address, Social Security number, and basic case information.⁶ Because the petition itself shows only the last four digits of your SSN, the Connecticut court also requires a separate Statement of Social Security Number (Official Form 21) with your full number.⁷

Schedules A/B through J give the court a complete picture of your finances. Schedule A/B lists everything you own and its value. Schedule C is where you claim exemptions. Schedules D and E/F cover secured and unsecured debts. Schedule I reports current income, and Schedule J details monthly expenses. The totals on the summary page have to match the individual schedules; discrepancies can delay your case.

Official Form 107, the Statement of Financial Affairs, asks about your income over the past two years, recent property transfers, lawsuits, and other transactions. Answer every question, even if the answer is “none.”

The means test form depends on the chapter. Chapter 7 filers complete Form 122A-1; Chapter 13 filers complete Form 122C-1.⁸

If you cannot finish every schedule by your filing deadline, the Connecticut court allows you to file the petition first and submit the remaining schedules, Statement of Financial Affairs, and means test form within 14 days. The Social Security number statement and the creditor mailing list have to be filed within five business days of the petition.⁷

Run the Means Test

On Form 122A-1 you calculate your average monthly income over the six full months before filing, then multiply by 12 to get an annualized figure.⁹ You compare that number to the median family income for a Connecticut household of your size.

For cases filed on or after November 1, 2025, the Connecticut median income figures are:

1-person household: $82,141
2-person household: $103,501
3-person household: $131,022
4-person household: $155,834

Add $11,100 for each additional person beyond four.¹⁰ These figures are updated periodically, so confirm the current numbers before filing.

At or below the median, you pass and can proceed with Chapter 7. Above it, you continue to Form 122A-2 to see whether you have enough disposable income to repay creditors. If the result shows a “presumption of abuse,” you will likely need to file under Chapter 13 instead or demonstrate special circumstances.⁹

Choose Your Exemptions

Exemptions are the legal tool that lets you keep certain property. Connecticut has not opted out of the federal system, so you can choose between Connecticut’s state exemptions and the federal exemptions in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d).¹¹ Pick one list; you cannot mix and match.

Which list is better depends on what you own. Connecticut’s state homestead exemption protects up to $250,000 of equity in your primary residence, well above the federal homestead of $31,575 (effective April 1, 2025).¹² Married couples filing jointly can double the Connecticut homestead to $500,000. If you own a home with real equity, state exemptions usually serve you better.

If you rent or have little home equity, the federal exemptions may be more useful. Key federal amounts effective April 1, 2025 include:

Homestead: $31,575 in equity in your primary residence
Motor vehicle: $5,025 in equity in one vehicle
Household goods: $800 per item, up to $16,850 total
Jewelry: $2,125
Wildcard: $1,675 in any property, plus up to $15,800 of unused homestead applied to any property
Tools of the trade: $3,175

The wildcard is especially valuable for renters. Claim no homestead and you can protect up to $17,475 worth of any property you choose ($1,675 base plus $15,800 unused homestead).¹² Married couples filing jointly can double all federal exemption amounts.¹¹ You claim your chosen exemptions on Schedule C.

Pay the Fee or Request a Waiver

Chapter 7 is $338 and Chapter 13 is $313.¹ The Connecticut court accepts cash, money orders, and cashier’s checks. Personal checks from the debtor are not accepted.⁷

If you cannot pay up front, you have two options. Form 103A requests an installment plan, available in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. You can split the fee into up to four payments, with all payments due within 120 days of filing; the court can extend this to 180 days for good cause.¹³ Form 103B requests a full fee waiver, which is only available in Chapter 7. To qualify, your household income has to fall below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and you must show you cannot afford even installment payments.

File at a Connecticut Bankruptcy Court

The District of Connecticut has three offices. You can file in person during business hours or send your packet by certified mail:

Hartford: Abraham Ribicoff Federal Building, 450 Main Street, 7th Floor, Hartford, CT 06103
Bridgeport: Brien McMahon Federal Building, 915 Lafayette Boulevard, Bridgeport, CT 06604
New Haven: Connecticut Financial Center, 157 Church Street, 18th Floor, New Haven, CT 06510

¹⁴

Your packet also has to include a creditor mailing list, sometimes called a creditor matrix. This is a text file listing each creditor’s name and full mailing address, left-justified, with a blank line between entries. The Connecticut court posts a formatting guide, and court staff will enter the list into the case management system for pro se filers.¹⁵ Business creditor addresses should include an attention line directed to an officer or agent.

Once the clerk accepts your filing and assigns a case number, the automatic stay takes effect immediately. The stay is a legal order that stops most collection activity against you, including wage garnishments, lawsuits, foreclosure proceedings, and creditor phone calls.¹⁶ It stays in place through the case unless a creditor asks the court for permission to continue collection.

Some actions are not stopped. Criminal proceedings, child support and alimony collection, custody and support order proceedings, and government tax audits all continue despite the filing.¹⁶

After Filing: The 341 Meeting and Debtor Education

The court schedules a meeting of creditors, also called the 341 meeting, after your case is filed. In Chapter 7 it falls between 21 and 40 days after filing; in Chapter 13, between 21 and 50 days. You must attend. Skipping it can get your case dismissed.

A bankruptcy trustee, not a judge, runs the meeting. The trustee places you under oath and asks about your forms, assets, income, and expenses. Bring a valid photo ID and proof of your Social Security number (a Social Security card or recent W-2 works). Creditors can attend and ask questions, but in most cases only the trustee speaks.

Get your most recent federal tax return to the trustee at least seven days before the meeting.⁵ Failing to send it can also result in dismissal.

One more educational requirement remains. After the meeting of creditors, you have to complete a debtor education course on personal financial management. This is a separate course from the pre-filing credit counseling.² The provider must be approved by the U.S. Trustee Program. File the certificate of completion (Official Form 423) with the court. In Chapter 7 the certificate must be filed within 60 days of the first date set for the meeting of creditors.¹⁷ In Chapter 13 it must be filed before you make the final payment under your plan. Miss this deadline and the court will not grant your discharge.

Debts Bankruptcy Will Not Erase

Not every debt disappears. Federal law makes several categories non-dischargeable, which means you still owe them after your case ends:

Child support and alimony survive bankruptcy entirely.
Recent income taxes generally cannot be discharged. Older tax debts, for returns due more than three years before filing, may be dischargeable if the returns were filed on time and no fraud was involved.¹⁸
Student loans are not discharged unless you file a separate legal action and prove undue hardship, a high bar to meet.
Debts arising from fraud or misrepresentation cannot be discharged.
Debts for death or personal injury caused by driving under the influence survive bankruptcy.
Criminal fines, restitution, and most government-imposed penalties are not dischargeable.
If you leave a creditor off your forms and that creditor did not learn about your case in time, the debt may survive.

You also have to stay current on taxes during the case. The IRS requires that you file returns for the last four tax periods before your bankruptcy and keep up with returns that come due while your case is open.¹⁸

Getting Your Discharge

In Chapter 7, the discharge order is typically entered roughly 60 days after the meeting of creditors, assuming you filed everything required and no one objected. The discharge permanently eliminates your personal liability on qualifying debts. In Chapter 13, the discharge comes after you complete every payment under your plan, three to five years later.

A bankruptcy filing stays on your credit report for up to 10 years from the filing date.¹⁹ The impact is sharpest at first and fades over time, especially with secured credit cards, small installment loans, and consistent on-time payments going forward.

1
United States Bankruptcy Court. Fees
2
U.S. Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses
3
EveryCRSReport.com. Credit Counseling Requirements for Consumer Bankruptcy
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United States Department of Justice. Credit Counseling Agencies – Connecticut
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 521 – Debtors Duties
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U.S. Courts. Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
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United States Bankruptcy Court District of Connecticut. Guidelines and Requirements to Assist Pro Se Debtors
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U.S. Trustee Program. Means Testing
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United States Courts. Official Form 122A-1 Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income
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U.S. Trustee Program. Median Family Income by State – Cases Filed on or After November 1, 2025
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions
12
Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
13
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure – Rule 1006 – Filing Fee
14
United States Bankruptcy Court District of Connecticut. Court Locations
15
United States Bankruptcy Court District of Connecticut. Quick Reference Guide Regarding a Batch Upload of Creditors
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
17
Justice.gov. Post-Filing Debtor Education Required
18
Internal Revenue Service. Declaring Bankruptcy
19
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports