To file bankruptcy in Tennessee, you choose between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, complete a credit counseling course within 180 days before filing, prepare a petition with schedules of your income, debts, property, and Tennessee exemptions, and submit the package to the federal bankruptcy court for the district where you live. The filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 or $313 for Chapter 13. After filing, you attend a meeting of creditors with the trustee, finish a second financial management course, and wait for the court to enter your discharge.
Below is what each step actually involves, what it costs, and what Tennessee law lets you keep.
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13
Everything else flows from this choice.
Chapter 7 is liquidation. A court-appointed trustee reviews your assets, sells anything that isn’t protected by an exemption, and uses the proceeds to pay creditors. Most remaining unsecured debts — credit cards, medical bills, personal loans — are discharged. The case typically closes three to four months after filing. To qualify, you have to pass the means test against Tennessee’s median income.
Chapter 13 is a repayment plan. You keep your property and pay creditors a portion of what you owe over three to five years through a court-approved plan. If your income is below the state median, the plan runs three years; above the median, it generally runs five. Chapter 13 is the route if you want to catch up on a mortgage in foreclosure or if your income is too high for Chapter 7. Your unsecured debts must be below $526,700 and secured debts below $1,580,125 to be eligible.1United States Courts. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics
Who Can File in Tennessee
You can file in Tennessee if you’ve lived here — or had your principal place of business or principal assets here — for the greater part of the 180 days before you file. You don’t need the full six months; you just need more time in Tennessee than in any other state during that window.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1408 – Venue of Cases Under Title 11 A recent move may mean waiting until you clear this threshold.
Before filing, you must complete a credit counseling session with a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program within 180 days of your petition date.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor The counselor reviews your finances and explores alternatives like a debt management plan. You’ll receive a certificate of completion, which gets filed with your petition. File without it and the court will dismiss your case. A temporary waiver is available in limited situations (for example, no approved agency can serve you within seven days), but you still have to finish the session within 30 days of filing.
The Means Test
The means test decides whether Chapter 7 is open to you. You complete it on Official Form 122A for Chapter 7 or Form 122C for Chapter 13.4United States Courts. Means Test Forms The first step averages your household’s gross income over the six months before filing and compares it to Tennessee’s median for your household size.
The most recent published figures for Tennessee are:
- 1-person household: $61,951
- 2-person household: $78,250
- 3-person household: $92,789
- 4-person household: $109,852
- Each additional person: add $11,100
These numbers are updated periodically, so verify the figure in effect on your filing date on the U.S. Trustee website.5U.S. Department of Justice. Median Family Income Table If you’re under the threshold, you pass and can file Chapter 7. If you’re over, a second calculation looks at your disposable income after allowed expenses; if enough is left to repay a meaningful portion of your debts, you’ll likely need to file Chapter 13 instead.
Forms and Documents You File
Your petition is a package of linked forms, all filed under penalty of perjury. Errors or omissions can get your case dismissed or render specific debts non-dischargeable.
- Official Form 101, Voluntary Petition — opens your case and identifies the chapter you’re filing under.6United States Courts. Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
- Official Form 106 series, the Schedules — your real and personal property, secured and unsecured creditors, income, expenses, and any leases or contracts.
- Official Form 107, Statement of Financial Affairs — a questionnaire covering recent payments to creditors, property transfers, gifts, lawsuits, and income sources from the past two years.7United States Courts. Official Form 107 Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
- Form 122A or 122C, the means test calculation.
You also need to supply documents to the trustee. Federal rules require you to bring a government-issued photo ID, proof of your Social Security number, your most recent pay stubs or other income evidence, and recent statements for all bank and investment accounts to your meeting of creditors. Your most recent federal tax return has to reach the trustee at least seven days before that meeting.8GovInfo. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4002 – Duties of Debtor
What You Can Keep: Tennessee Exemptions
Tennessee has opted out of the federal bankruptcy exemption system. You must use state exemptions; the federal list in the Bankruptcy Code is not available to you.
Home Equity
The Tennessee homestead exemption protects up to $35,000 of equity in your primary residence if you file individually, and up to $52,500 for married couples filing jointly. If your home equity exceeds the exemption in a Chapter 7 case, the trustee can sell the home and return the exempt amount to you from the proceeds.
Personal Property and the Wildcard
Tennessee allows a wildcard exemption of up to $10,000 in any personal property.9Justia Law. Tennessee Code 26-2-103 – Personal Property Selectively Exempt Because the state has no dedicated motor vehicle exemption, many filers apply the wildcard to car equity. Other common exemptions:
- Tools of your trade: books, tools, and equipment used in your profession, up to $1,900.10Justia Law. Tennessee Code 26-2-111 – Additional Exemptions
- Wages: 75% of disposable earnings, or 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is greater.
- Retirement accounts: Tennessee public retirement system benefits are fully exempt; 401(k)s and IRAs are protected under federal law.11Justia Law. Tennessee Code 8-36-111 – Exemption of Benefits From Execution, Attachment, Garnishment and Assignment
What It Costs
The court filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees You can apply to pay in installments if you can’t cover it all at once.
Chapter 7 filers whose household income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines can apply for a full fee waiver. The 2026 thresholds:
- 1-person household: $23,940
- 2-person household: $32,460
- 3-person household: $40,980
- 4-person household: $49,500
- Each additional person: add $8,52013United States Courts. 150% of the HHS Poverty Guidelines for 2026
Fee waivers are not available for Chapter 13.
Beyond the filing fee, both required courses — credit counseling before filing and debtor education after — typically run $10 to $50 each, with providers capped at $50 absent special permission. Fee waivers for the courses are available at the same 150% poverty threshold. If you hire an attorney, a straightforward Chapter 7 case generally runs around $600 to $3,000 and a Chapter 13 around $1,800 to $7,500, depending on complexity and location.
Where and How You File
Tennessee has three federal bankruptcy districts. The Eastern District is based in Knoxville with offices in Chattanooga and Greeneville, the Middle District sits in Nashville, and the Western District covers Memphis and Jackson. You file in the district where you live.14United States Bankruptcy Court. Eastern District of Tennessee Filers without an attorney typically submit the petition package in person or by mail at the clerk’s office. Attorneys file electronically through the court’s CM/ECF system.
Once the clerk processes your petition and fee, the court assigns a case number, appoints a trustee, and notifies every creditor on your schedules. The automatic stay also kicks in immediately. It’s a federal court order that stops most collection activity — phone calls, lawsuits, wage garnishments, foreclosure. The stay has exceptions written into federal law, including criminal proceedings, collection of child support and alimony, and government regulatory actions.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay A secured creditor like a mortgage lender can also ask the court to lift the stay as to specific collateral.
The Meeting of Creditors
The trustee schedules a meeting of creditors — a “341 meeting” — after your case is filed. In Chapter 7 it takes place 21 to 40 days after filing; in Chapter 13, 21 to 50 days.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 341 – Meetings of Creditors and Equity Security Holders
The trustee runs the meeting, not a judge. You answer questions under oath about your income, property, debts, and recent financial transactions. Creditors can attend and question you but rarely do in routine consumer cases. Most meetings last 10 to 15 minutes. Bring the photo ID, Social Security proof, pay stubs, bank statements, and tax return described above.
Finishing the Case: Debtor Education and Discharge
After the 341 meeting, you have to complete a personal financial management course through a U.S. Trustee–approved provider.17U.S. Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses This is separate from the pre-filing credit counseling and cannot be combined with it. The certificate of completion has to be filed with the court. Without it, the court closes your case without a discharge.
In Chapter 7, creditors and the trustee have 60 days from the first scheduled 341 meeting to file objections to your discharge or challenge specific debts. If no objections come in, the court usually enters the discharge shortly after that window closes, typically 60 to 90 days after the meeting.18United States Bankruptcy Court. Discharge, When Is It Entered Most Chapter 7 cases close within three to four months of filing.
In Chapter 13, discharge comes only after you finish every payment under your plan — three to five years. You also have to certify that any domestic support obligations are current before the court will enter the discharge.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge Missing payments can lead to dismissal or conversion to Chapter 7.
Debts That Don’t Go Away
Not everything can be discharged. Federal law carves out categories that survive both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The common ones:
- Child support and alimony.
- Most student loans, unless you prove “undue hardship” in a separate court proceeding — a hard standard to meet.
- Recent income taxes. Older tax debt may be dischargeable if the return was due more than three years before filing, was actually filed more than two years before filing, and the tax was assessed more than 240 days before filing.21Internal Revenue Service. Bankruptcy Frequently Asked Questions
- Debts obtained through fraud or false pretenses.
- Liability for personal injury or death caused by drunk driving.
- Criminal fines and restitution.
- Debts you forgot to list in your schedules, if the creditor didn’t learn about the case in time to file a claim.
Chapter 13 can discharge a few things Chapter 7 cannot, such as certain divorce property settlement obligations and debts from willful property damage. The categories above still survive under both chapters.22United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics
After Discharge: Credit and Refiling Limits
A bankruptcy filing stays on your credit report for up to 10 years from the filing date.23Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports It can make new credit, rental applications, and some background checks harder in the near term, and the effect fades as you rebuild.
Federal law also caps how often you can get a discharge. After a Chapter 7 discharge, you have to wait eight years from that filing date before filing another Chapter 7, or four years before filing a Chapter 13. After a Chapter 13 discharge, you have to wait two years before filing another Chapter 13.