How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Michigan: Forms and Exemptions

To file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Michigan, you complete a required credit counseling course, pass the means test, prepare a federal petition with schedules of your income, debts, assets, and claimed exemptions, and submit it to either the Eastern or Western District of Michigan bankruptcy court with a $338 filing fee. From there, an automatic stay stops collection activity, a trustee reviews your case at a 341 meeting about a month later, and once you finish a second required course on personal financial management, the court issues a discharge order. Most straightforward cases wrap up in three to four months.

Confirm You Qualify

The means test is the main gate. It compares your household income over the six months before filing to Michigan’s median income for a household your size. For cases filed on or after April 1, 2026, the Michigan thresholds are $67,352 for one person, $83,432 for two, $103,449 for three, and $123,010 for four, with $11,100 added for each additional member.¹ Below the median, you pass. Above it, you aren’t automatically out: a second calculation deducts allowable living expenses, and if what remains is too small to fund a meaningful Chapter 13 repayment plan, you can still proceed.

A prior bankruptcy can also block you. If you already received a Chapter 7 discharge in a case filed within the previous eight years, you cannot receive another.² The eight years run from the filing date of that earlier case, not the discharge date.

Take the Pre-Filing Credit Counseling Course

Every individual filer has to complete a credit counseling session from a U.S. Trustee-approved agency within 180 days before filing the petition.³ It can be done online or by phone, usually takes about an hour, and costs somewhere between $20 and $50. You’ll receive a certificate of completion, and that certificate has to be filed with your petition. Skip the course and the court will dismiss your case.⁴

Gather Your Documents

Pulling your records together before you start on the forms saves a lot of frustration. You need a full, honest picture of your financial life:

All pay stubs (payment advices) from the 60 days before filing⁵
Your most recent federal tax returns, typically the last two years
Profit and loss statements if you’re self-employed
A complete creditor list: names, addresses, account numbers, and balances for every debt you owe
Real estate deeds, vehicle titles, and statements for bank, investment, and retirement accounts
An inventory of your personal property with estimated values
A monthly budget covering rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, childcare, and any other regular expense
Records of large payments to creditors, property transfers, or asset sales in the past two years
Your credit counseling certificate

Missing a creditor is a common and expensive mistake. Debts you leave off may not be discharged, and amending your schedules later costs an extra fee. Pull a free credit report before you begin so old collection accounts don’t slip through.

Choose Michigan or Federal Exemptions

Exemptions decide what property you keep and what the trustee can sell. Michigan lets you pick either the state list or the federal list, but you can’t mix items from the two.⁶ Which list is better depends on what you own.

The Michigan List

Michigan’s homestead exemption is the standout. For 2026 it shields up to $51,150 in home equity, or up to $76,725 if you or a dependent is 65 or older or disabled.⁷ Other Michigan exemptions include one motor vehicle up to $2,775 (base statutory amount, adjusted for inflation periodically), household goods and furniture up to $450 per item and $3,000 total, tools of trade up to $2,000, one computer and accessories up to $500, household pets up to $500, and crops and farm animals up to $2,000. These base amounts are adjusted for inflation, so check the Michigan Treasury’s most recent notice before filing.⁶

The Federal List

The federal list is often better if you rent or have little home equity. Its homestead protection is smaller, but it includes a wildcard exemption you can apply to any property, including cash savings, a second vehicle, or a tax refund. The wildcard combines a small base amount with any unused portion of the federal homestead exemption. Retirement accounts like 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and IRAs are protected under federal law regardless of which list you pick, so those are safe either way. Run your numbers under both lists before filing.

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

All Chapter 7 cases use the same set of federal forms, available on the U.S. Courts website.⁸ The core documents are:

Voluntary Petition (Form 101), which opens the case
Schedules A/B, listing everything you own from real estate to clothing
Schedule C, where you claim your exemptions
Schedule D, for secured debts like mortgages and car loans
Schedules E/F, for priority unsecured debts (taxes, child support) and general unsecured debts (credit cards, medical bills)
Schedule I, your current income
Schedule J, your current monthly expenses
Form 122A, the means test calculation

Schedule C is where your exemption research earns its keep. You list each asset alongside the specific exemption protecting it and the dollar amount claimed. If an asset’s value exceeds the available exemption, the trustee can sell it and give you the exempt portion in cash. Understating income, omitting assets, or inflating expenses can get your case dismissed, or trigger a fraud investigation, so accuracy matters here more than anywhere else.

File in the Correct Michigan District

Michigan has two federal bankruptcy districts, and you file in the one covering your county of residence.⁹ The Eastern District covers Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, Washtenaw, Saginaw, Bay, and other counties across the eastern and northern-central parts of the state. The Western District covers Kent, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Grand Traverse, Ottawa, Ingham, and counties across western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

The total filing fee is $338: a $245 case filing fee, a $78 administrative fee, and a $15 trustee surcharge.¹⁰¹¹ If you can’t pay upfront, you can ask the court for installments. If your household income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, you can apply to have the fee waived entirely.

If an attorney represents you, the petition is filed electronically through the court’s CM/ECF system. Pro se filers usually file in person at the clerk’s office. Attorney fees for a straightforward Michigan Chapter 7 case typically run between $900 and $2,000, depending on the complexity of your finances and your location in the state.

What Happens After You File

The automatic stay takes effect the moment your petition is filed. Creditor calls, lawsuits, wage garnishments, repossessions, and foreclosure proceedings all stop.¹² The stay does not stop criminal proceedings, child support or alimony collection, most family law matters like divorce or custody, or tax audits. If you had a prior bankruptcy dismissed within the past year, the stay may last only 30 days or not take effect at all.

The court assigns a trustee to review your forms, verify your disclosures, and look for non-exempt assets that could be sold to pay creditors. Most Chapter 7 cases are “no-asset” cases: the trustee finds nothing worth selling because exemptions cover everything, and the debts are simply discharged.

Within roughly 30 to 45 days of filing, you’ll attend a 341 meeting of creditors. Despite the name, creditors rarely show up. The trustee runs the meeting, puts you under oath, and asks questions about your petition to verify your identity and probe anything unclear in your schedules.¹³ No judge presides. Most meetings last ten to fifteen minutes when the paperwork is clean.

Finish Debtor Education and Get Your Discharge

After filing, and before the court will grant a discharge, you have to complete a personal financial management course. This is a separate course from the pre-filing credit counseling, with a different provider and different content, covering budgeting and using credit responsibly. File the certificate with the court or the discharge cannot be entered.² The deadline is typically 60 days after the first date set for your 341 meeting.¹⁴

Most straightforward cases close in three to four months from the filing date. The 341 meeting falls around day 30 to 45, the debtor education deadline lands around day 80 to 100, and the discharge order typically enters shortly after, assuming no creditor objections and no asset complications. Cases with non-exempt assets, disputes, or incomplete paperwork take longer.

Debts That Won’t Be Erased

Chapter 7 is most effective against unsecured debt: credit card balances, medical bills, personal loans, past-due utility bills, and deficiency balances left after repossession or foreclosure. Some debts survive it, though, and knowing which before filing matters.¹⁵

Child support and alimony (domestic support obligations)
Most tax debts, including recent income taxes, payroll taxes, and taxes tied to a fraudulent or missing return
Student loans, unless you prove “undue hardship” in a separate court proceeding, a difficult standard to meet
Debts obtained through fraud or false pretenses
Debts for death or personal injury caused by driving under the influence
Government fines and penalties, including criminal restitution and traffic tickets
Debts from willful and malicious injury to another person or their property

Two rules catch filers off guard. Luxury purchases from a single creditor totaling more than $900 within 90 days of filing are presumed non-dischargeable, and cash advances totaling more than $1,250 within 70 days get the same treatment.¹⁶ “Presumed” means you have to prove the purchases were legitimate, not the other way around. Stop using credit cards well before you file.

1
U.S. Trustee Program. Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size – Cases Filed On or After April 1, 2026
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 727 – Discharge
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
United States Bankruptcy Court. Payment Advices
6
Michigan Legislature. MCL 600.5451 – Exempt Property
7
State of Michigan. Inflation Adjustments Bankruptcy Exemptions
8
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Forms
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 102 – Michigan
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees
11
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 362 – Automatic Stay
13
United States Department of Justice. Section 341 Meeting of Creditors
14
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Central District of California. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Timeline
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
16
Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases