How to File Bankruptcy in Louisiana: Chapters, Exemptions, and Costs

To file bankruptcy in Louisiana, you submit a petition to the federal bankruptcy court for your district under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, after completing a credit counseling course, passing (or failing) the means test, and preparing schedules that list every asset, debt, and financial transaction from your recent past. Federal law governs the process, but Louisiana’s own statutes decide which property you get to keep.

Choosing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13

The first decision is which chapter fits your situation. Chapter 7 is the faster option. A court-appointed trustee reviews your property, sells anything not covered by an exemption, and distributes the proceeds to creditors. Most unsecured debts are wiped out in roughly three to four months. In practice, most consumer Chapter 7 cases are “no-asset” cases where exemptions cover everything the filer owns.

Chapter 13 lets you keep your property in exchange for a court-approved repayment plan. If your current monthly income falls below Louisiana’s median for your household size, the plan runs three years. If your income exceeds the median, it generally runs five years.¹ Chapter 13 is usually the better fit if you’re behind on a mortgage or car loan and want to catch up over time, or if you have significant non-exempt assets you’d otherwise lose.

The Means Test

The means test decides whether Chapter 7 is available to you. It averages your gross income over the six full calendar months before you file and compares that figure to the median household income for a family of your size in Louisiana. Fall below the median and you pass. Earn more than the median and a second calculation subtracts allowed expenses from your income to find your disposable income. If that number is low enough, Chapter 7 is still available. If not, Chapter 13 is your path. The forms are Official Form 122A for Chapter 7 and Form 122C for Chapter 13.²

Pre-Filing Credit Counseling

Before you can file, federal law requires you to complete a credit counseling briefing from an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program. The session must happen within the 180 days before you file.³ The briefing covers alternatives to bankruptcy and includes a basic budget analysis. Most approved agencies offer it online or by phone, and fees typically run $10 to $50. Skip this step and the court can dismiss your case.⁴

The agency issues a certificate when you finish. That certificate is filed with your petition, so keep it. A narrow exigent-circumstances exception exists, but even then the court will require you to complete the course within 30 days of filing.³

Louisiana Exemptions and the Two-Year Residency Rule

Louisiana has opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so you use the state’s own exemptions to protect your property.⁵ In Chapter 7, anything not covered by an exemption can be sold by the trustee. In Chapter 13, you keep your property, but the value of your non-exempt assets sets the minimum your plan must pay to unsecured creditors.

To use Louisiana’s exemptions, you must have lived in the state for the 730 days immediately before filing. If you moved to Louisiana more recently, you may be required to use the exemptions of the state where you lived for most of the 180 days before that 730-day window.⁶

Homestead

Your primary residence is protected up to $35,000 in equity. The land cannot exceed 160 acres, whether in one tract or several with the home on one and a field, garden, or pasture on the others.⁷ Married couples filing jointly claim only one homestead. The Louisiana Constitution sets a $15,000 floor and authorizes the legislature to raise it.⁸

Personal Property and Income

Motor vehicle: up to $7,500 in equity for one vehicle per household, with a separate $7,500 exemption for a second vehicle modified for a family member’s disability.⁵
Wages: the greater of 75% of your weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.⁵
Tools of a trade: tools, instruments, and books needed for your livelihood, plus a utility trailer and one firearm capped at $500.⁷
Retirement accounts: 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, and other tax-deferred arrangements are fully exempt from all debts except alimony and child support.⁵
Insurance proceeds: health, accident, disability, and life insurance proceeds are generally exempt, though life insurance policies issued within nine months of filing are capped at $35,000.⁷

Documents and Schedules You’ll Prepare

Bankruptcy paperwork is detailed and unforgiving. You’ll need recent pay stubs, tax returns for at least the last two years, bank statements, mortgage and loan documents, vehicle titles, and records of any property you recently sold or gave away.

The official schedules include:⁹

Schedule A/B: all property you own, with current market values
Schedule C: the Louisiana exemptions you’re claiming for each asset
Schedule D: creditors with secured claims (mortgages, car loans)
Schedule E/F: creditors with unsecured claims (credit cards, medical bills)
Schedule I: your current income
Schedule J: your current monthly expenses

You also file a Statement of Financial Affairs covering income sources, lawsuits, property transfers, and gifts made in the past two years.¹⁰ Every creditor must be listed with name, address, account number, and amount owed. Leaving a creditor off can prevent that debt from being discharged. Concealing assets or making false statements is a federal felony carrying up to five years in prison.¹¹ Over-disclose. If you realize after filing that you left something out, amend the schedules right away.

Where to File

You file in the federal bankruptcy court for the district where you live. Louisiana has three:

Eastern District, based in New Orleans¹²
Middle District, based in Baton Rouge¹³
Western District, covering Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette, and surrounding areas

You can file in person, by mail, or electronically. The court filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13. If your household income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, you can apply for a full fee waiver in a Chapter 7 case.¹⁴ Filers who don’t qualify for a waiver but can’t pay upfront can ask to pay in installments.

What Happens After You File

The Automatic Stay

The moment your petition reaches the clerk, an automatic stay takes effect. The stay stops most creditor actions against you: lawsuits, phone calls, wage garnishments, and foreclosure proceedings. It does not stop criminal proceedings, collection of child support or alimony from non-estate property, most family court proceedings like divorce or custody cases, or tax audits.¹⁵ A secured creditor can also ask the court to lift the stay if their collateral is losing value without adequate protection.

If you filed and dismissed a bankruptcy case within the past year, the stay in your new case lasts only 30 days unless the court extends it. Two dismissed cases within the past year, and you get no automatic stay at all without a court order.

The 341 Meeting of Creditors

Between 21 and 40 days after your Chapter 7 filing, you attend the meeting of creditors, commonly called the 341 meeting.¹⁶ The trustee runs it; no judge is present. You testify under oath about the accuracy of your schedules. Creditors are invited but rarely appear in routine consumer cases.

Bring a valid government-issued photo ID and proof of your Social Security number, such as your card or a W-2. The trustee will verify your identity and ask about your assets, debts, income, and any recent property transfers. If your paperwork is in order, the hearing usually takes five to ten minutes. Both spouses must attend a joint case. Failing to appear can get the case dismissed.

Debtor Education and Discharge

After filing but before discharge, you must complete a second course, on personal financial management, from an approved provider. This is separate from the pre-filing credit counseling, and both certificates must be on file before the court will discharge your debts.¹⁷

In a Chapter 7 case, the discharge typically arrives about 60 days after the first date set for the 341 meeting, putting the total timeline at roughly three to four months from filing. Chapter 13 discharges come only after you complete all payments under your plan. The discharge is a court order that permanently eliminates your personal liability for qualifying debts.

Debts Bankruptcy Won’t Erase

Some debts survive discharge under either chapter:¹⁸

Domestic support obligations (child support and alimony)
Most taxes, including recent income taxes, trust fund taxes, and taxes where no return was filed
Student loans, unless you can prove undue hardship, which courts interpret narrowly
Debts for injury or death caused while driving under the influence
Money obtained through fraud or false financial statements
Fines and criminal restitution
Debts you failed to list, if the creditor didn’t learn about the case in time to file a claim

Luxury purchases over $800 made within 90 days before filing and cash advances over $1,100 taken within 70 days are presumed non-dischargeable. Courts can also deny discharge of specific debts if a creditor proves fraud, embezzlement, or willful injury.

Payments to Reconsider Before Filing

Think carefully about recent payments to specific creditors. The trustee can claw back payments that gave one creditor more than they would have received in a Chapter 7 liquidation. For ordinary creditors, the lookback is 90 days before filing. For insiders like relatives, business partners, or close associates, it extends to a full year.¹⁹ Pay your brother back in full two months before filing and the trustee can sue him to recover the money for distribution among all creditors. Payments made in the ordinary course of business, like regular monthly mortgage payments, are generally protected.

What It Costs

The court filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13. Each of the two mandatory courses typically runs $10 to $50. Attorney fees for a straightforward Chapter 7 case generally range from $1,200 to $2,500, though complex cases cost more. Chapter 13 attorney fees tend to be higher because the case lasts years, and those fees can usually be folded into the repayment plan.

Filing without an attorney is legal but risky. A document preparer can only type information you provide; they cannot advise you on which exemptions to claim, whether to file Chapter 7 or 13, or how to handle secured debts.

If You’ve Filed Before

Timing matters for repeat filers. You cannot receive a Chapter 7 discharge if you already got one in a case filed within the previous eight years.²⁰ If the earlier case was Chapter 13, the wait before a Chapter 7 discharge drops to six years, unless you paid at least 70% of unsecured claims under your previous plan in good faith. Chapter 13 after a prior Chapter 13 discharge requires two years; Chapter 13 after a Chapter 7 discharge requires four. These periods run filing date to filing date. Filing too soon doesn’t block the case, but it will block the discharge, which defeats the point.

1
United States Courts. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics
2
United States Department of Justice. Means Testing
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
4
United States Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code 13:3881 – General Exemptions From Seizure
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 522 – Exemptions
7
United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Louisiana. Louisiana Exemptions
8
Louisiana State Senate. State Constitution of 1974, Article XII: General Provisions – Section 9
9
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Forms
10
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1007
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 152 – Concealment of Assets
12
United States Bankruptcy Court – Eastern District of Louisiana. Home
13
United States Bankruptcy Court. Middle District of Louisiana
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
16
United States Bankruptcy Court. What Is a 341(a) Meeting of Creditors
17
United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses
18
United States Bankruptcy Court – Northern District of Florida. What Debts Are Not Dischargeable
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 547 – Preferences
20
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 727 – Discharge