How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Georgia: Means Test to Discharge

To file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Georgia, you complete a pre-filing credit counseling session, pass the federal means test using Georgia’s median income figures, prepare your petition with Georgia’s state exemptions, and submit it to the federal bankruptcy court for the district where you live. The filing fee is $338. After filing, you attend a creditor meeting, complete a second financial management course, and — assuming no complications — receive your discharge roughly four months after you started.

Start With Credit Counseling

Federal law requires you to complete a credit counseling session with a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program before you can file.1United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses The session must fall within the 180 days before your filing date.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 109 – Who May Be a Debtor The counselor reviews your budget with you and discusses alternatives. You receive a certificate of completion, and you file that certificate with your petition. The Department of Justice publishes a list of approved agencies for Georgia.3U.S. Department of Justice. Credit Counseling Agencies – Georgia

Pass the Means Test

The means test decides whether your income is low enough for Chapter 7 rather than a Chapter 13 repayment plan. It has two possible steps.

The Income Comparison

First, average your gross monthly income over the six full calendar months before filing and compare it to Georgia’s median income for a household of your size. If you fall below the median, you pass and can proceed. The current Georgia figures are:4U.S. Department of Justice. Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size

  • One person: $62,401
  • Two people: $81,309
  • Three people: $98,564
  • Four people: $114,618

Add $11,100 for each additional household member beyond four. The thresholds are updated periodically, so verify the numbers in effect on your filing date. You report this comparison on Official Form 122A-1.5United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Georgia. Means Test Information

The Expense Calculation

If your income is over the median, a second calculation subtracts standardized IRS living expenses — food, clothing, housing, transportation, and similar categories — from your income to see how much would be left to repay creditors.6Internal Revenue Service. National Standards: Food, Clothing and Other Items If not much is left, you still qualify for Chapter 7. If the remainder is high enough to support a repayment plan, the court may push you toward Chapter 13. That calculation goes on Form 122A-2.

Know Which Property Georgia Lets You Keep

Georgia has opted out of the federal exemption system, so you must use the state exemptions in O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100.7Justia Law. Georgia Code Title 44 Chapter 13 Article 2 Section 44-13-100 – Exemptions for Bankruptcy Estates Anything not covered by an exemption is available to the trustee to sell for your creditors, so this step deserves careful attention.

  • Homestead: up to $21,500 in equity in your primary residence, or $43,000 for a married couple filing jointly.
  • Motor vehicles: up to $5,000 in equity across all vehicles.
  • Household goods: up to $5,000 total for furniture, appliances, clothing, and books, capped at $300 per item.
  • Jewelry: up to $500.
  • Tools of the trade: up to $1,500 for equipment used to earn a living.
  • Wildcard: $1,200 applied to any property, plus up to $10,000 of any unused homestead exemption.

The wildcard matters most if you rent. You can redirect most of the unused homestead protection to cover a bank account, a vehicle with equity above the $5,000 cap, or other property that would otherwise be exposed.

Gather Your Records and Complete the Forms

Before you can fill out the petition, you need a full picture of what you own and what you owe. List every asset — real estate, vehicles, household items, bank accounts, retirement accounts — and every debt, marking each as secured (backed by collateral) or unsecured. Pull together:

  • Your most recent federal income tax return. You must provide it to the trustee at least seven days before the 341 meeting.8Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4002 – Debtors Duties
  • Recent pay stubs or other proof of current income.
  • Recent bank statements for every account.
  • Deeds, titles, appraisals, and loan statements for property you own.
  • Records of your monthly expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, food, transportation, and other recurring costs.

Note any sizable payments you made to creditors or family members in the months before filing. A trustee can potentially recover payments of $600 or more made to ordinary creditors within 90 days of filing, and payments to family or other close contacts within one year. These transfers must be disclosed regardless of amount.

The case opens with the Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy, Official Form 101.9United States Courts. Official Form 101 Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy Filed with it are the supporting schedules:

  • Schedule A/B lists all your property.
  • Schedule C claims Georgia exemptions for each asset you want to protect.
  • Schedules D and E/F list your debts — secured on D, priority and general unsecured on E/F.
  • Schedules I and J show current monthly income and expenses.
  • Schedule G lists active leases and contracts.
  • Schedule H identifies anyone who shares responsibility for a debt.

You also submit a Statement of Financial Affairs covering income, payments, lawsuits, and property transfers over specified look-back periods. Every form is signed under penalty of perjury. Misrepresenting your finances can lead to dismissal or criminal charges.

File in the Right Georgia District

Georgia has three federal judicial districts: the Northern District covering the Atlanta area, the Middle District covering the Macon and Columbus areas, and the Southern District covering Savannah and surrounding regions.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 90 – Georgia File in the district where you have lived for the greater part of the 180 days before your filing date.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1408 – Venue of Cases Under Title 11 Each district has its own courthouses and local rules; check them before you submit.

Fees, Installments, and Waivers

The Chapter 7 filing fee is $338.12United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Georgia. Fees If you cannot pay it all at once, you can ask to pay in up to four installments over 120 days, extendable to 180 for good cause.13Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee If your household income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty line and installments are not workable, you can apply for a complete fee waiver.

How to Submit the Petition

Attorneys file electronically through the court’s CM/ECF system. If you file on your own, you generally bring or mail paper copies to the clerk’s office for your district. Once the clerk accepts your petition, your case is open.

What Happens After You File

Filing triggers the automatic stay, which immediately halts most collection activity: wage garnishment, foreclosure, repossession, lawsuits, and collector calls.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 362 – Automatic Stay The clerk notifies the creditors you listed. Creditors who keep pursuing you after notice can be penalized. The stay lasts throughout your case unless a creditor asks the court to lift it for a particular debt, which happens most often with a secured loan that is behind on payments.

About 21 to 40 days after filing, you attend the Meeting of Creditors, also called the 341 meeting. A court-appointed trustee runs it; the judge does not attend. Bring a government-issued photo ID and proof of your Social Security number, such as your Social Security card or a recent W-2. The trustee places you under oath and asks about your petition and financial affairs — usually confirming your address, verifying income, and checking on assets that might not be fully exempt. Creditors may attend, but they seldom do in routine consumer cases.8Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4002 – Debtors Duties

The trustee’s role is to identify non-exempt assets, sell them, and distribute the proceeds. Most individual Chapter 7 cases are “no-asset” cases: after exemptions are applied, there is nothing worth collecting, and the trustee files a report saying so.15United States Courts. Chapter 7 – Bankruptcy Basics

Finish the Debtor Education Course and Get Your Discharge

After filing, you complete a second course — this one focused on personal financial management, budgeting, and credit — through a provider approved by the U.S. Trustee Program.1United States Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses It is separate from the pre-filing session. The provider may notify the court directly that you finished; if not, you file the certificate yourself.

Once the 341 meeting is done, the trustee has completed their review, and your completion of the debtor education course is on file, the court issues a discharge order — typically about four months after your original filing date.16United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics The discharge permanently releases you from personal liability on most unsecured debts.

Debts a Chapter 7 Discharge Will Not Erase

Several categories of debt survive the discharge:17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge

  • Child support and alimony.
  • Most recent income taxes, taxes for which no return was filed, and taxes you attempted to evade.
  • Government-backed and qualified private student loans, unless you can prove undue hardship — a difficult standard.
  • Debts obtained through fraud or false statements.
  • Consumer debts of more than $900 to a single creditor for luxury goods or services within 90 days of filing, which are presumed nondischargeable.
  • Criminal fines and restitution.
  • Debts arising from death or personal injury caused by driving while intoxicated.

Reaffirming a Debt to Keep Secured Property

To keep property that secures a loan, most commonly a car, you can sign a reaffirmation agreement with the lender. You agree to stay personally liable on that debt after discharge, and in return you keep the property as long as you stay current.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 524 – Effect of Discharge Reaffirmation is voluntary, and a few rules apply:

  • The agreement must be made before the court enters your discharge.
  • You can rescind any time before discharge or within 60 days after filing the agreement with the court, whichever is later.
  • If you have an attorney, they must certify that the agreement does not impose an undue hardship. Without an attorney, the judge must approve it.

Think carefully. If you default after reaffirming, the lender can repossess the property and still pursue you for any deficiency — a claim the discharge would otherwise have wiped out.

Refiling Limits and Your Credit Report

You cannot get another Chapter 7 discharge if you received one in a case filed within the past eight years.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge If your prior discharge was under Chapter 13, the wait is six years, unless that plan paid unsecured creditors in full or paid at least 70 percent and was proposed in good faith.

A Chapter 7 filing stays on your credit report for up to ten years from the filing date.20Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports? The score impact is heaviest early on, and many filers begin receiving credit offers within months of discharge as new positive payment history builds.