To file for bankruptcy in Connecticut, you submit a petition to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut, which has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven.1United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut. United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut Bankruptcy itself is federal, but Connecticut law shapes two things that matter a lot: which property you keep, and how long you must have lived here to claim the state’s protections. Before you file, you complete a credit counseling course; after filing, you attend a meeting with the trustee and complete a second financial management course to receive your discharge.
Where You File and How Long You Must Have Lived Here
Your case is assigned to the divisional office covering your address. To file in Connecticut, you must have lived in the state for the greater part of the 180 days before your filing date.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1408 – Venue of Cases Under Title 11
Using Connecticut’s exemptions is a separate question with a stricter test. You must have been domiciled in Connecticut for the full 730 days (two years) before filing.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions Move here more recently and you generally use the exemptions of the state where you lived during the 180 days before that two-year window began. The rule exists to stop people from relocating just to grab a more generous exemption scheme.
Choosing Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
Most individuals file under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, and picking the right one matters.
Chapter 7 is a liquidation. A court-appointed trustee reviews your assets, sells anything not covered by exemptions, and distributes the proceeds to creditors. In exchange, most unsecured debts — credit cards, medical bills — are wiped out. The discharge typically enters about 60 days after the meeting of creditors.4United States Courts. Process – Bankruptcy Basics In practice, most Chapter 7 filers keep all of their property because everything falls within available exemptions.
Chapter 13 is a repayment plan. You keep your property but pay a portion of your income to creditors over three to five years. If your monthly income is below Connecticut’s median, the plan runs three years unless the court approves longer; above the median, it generally runs five.5United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics Chapter 13 is especially useful if you have fallen behind on a mortgage or car loan, because it lets you spread the arrears over the plan period while keeping the property.
The Means Test for Chapter 7
You cannot simply pick Chapter 7. First, your average monthly income over the six months before filing is compared to Connecticut’s median for a household of your size. For cases filed between November 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, the median is $82,141 for a single-person household and $155,834 for a four-person household. Each additional person above four adds $11,100.6United States Department of Justice. Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size These numbers update periodically, so confirm the figures in effect on your filing date.7United States Department of Justice. Means Testing
Below the median, you generally qualify. Above the median, a second step subtracts allowed living expenses from your income to see whether you have enough disposable income to fund a Chapter 13 plan. Failing the means test doesn’t shut you out of bankruptcy; it steers you into Chapter 13.
Debt Limits for Chapter 13
Chapter 13 has its own gate. For cases filed between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2028, your noncontingent, liquidated secured debts must be under $1,580,125 and unsecured debts under $526,700.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor Contingent debts (triggered only if a specific event happens) and unliquidated debts (amount not yet fixed) don’t count.
Credit Counseling Before You File
Whichever chapter you choose, you must complete a credit counseling session from an approved provider within 180 days before filing your petition.9United States Department of Justice. Frequently Asked Questions – Credit Counseling It covers alternatives to bankruptcy and basic financial management. File the resulting certificate with the court. Skip this step and your case is dismissed.
Picking Exemptions: Connecticut or Federal
Exemptions decide which assets the trustee cannot touch. Connecticut has not opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so you may choose either the state or federal set — but you cannot mix them.10Connecticut General Assembly. Exemptions Under Bankruptcy Laws
Connecticut State Exemptions
Under Connecticut General Statutes § 52-352b, the state exemptions include:11Justia Law. Connecticut Code Title 52, Chapter 906, Section 52-352b – Exempt Property
- Homestead: up to $250,000 of equity in your primary residence, calculated as fair market value minus mortgages and liens. Married joint filers can double this to $500,000.
- Motor vehicles: up to $7,000 in combined equity across one or two vehicles.
- Wild card: up to $1,000 applied to any property, including cash.
- Retirement accounts: qualified retirement plans, IRAs, and similar arrangements are fully exempt.
- Wages: at least 75% of earned but unpaid weekly wages.
- Other protected property: necessary household items, tools of the trade, health aids, Social Security, workers’ compensation, unemployment, child support, and life insurance cash surrender values.
Exemptions apply to equity, not gross value. A $15,000 car with a $10,000 loan has $5,000 in equity, well inside the $7,000 vehicle exemption.
Federal Exemptions
The federal exemptions, adjusted for cases filed on or after April 1, 2025, include:12Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
- Homestead: $31,575 in equity (doubles for joint filers).
- Motor vehicle: $5,025 per filer.
- Wild card: $1,675 plus up to $15,800 of any unused homestead exemption, so a renter can protect as much as $17,475 of any property.
The choice usually turns on whether you own a home. Homeowners with real equity almost always come out ahead with Connecticut’s $250,000 homestead. Renters or people with little home equity often do better with the federal wild card, which shelters far more cash and bank balances than Connecticut’s $1,000 wild card.
Filing the Petition and the Automatic Stay
You start the case by filing your petition and financial schedules with the court. Those documents lay out your income, expenses, assets, debts, recent transactions, and the exemptions you’re claiming. The moment you file, the automatic stay takes effect.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
The stay is a court order that stops most collection activity: lawsuits, wage garnishments, collection calls, foreclosure, bank levies. For many filers, that immediate relief is the most tangible benefit of bankruptcy, well before any debt is discharged.
The stay has limits. It does not stop criminal proceedings, collection of child support or alimony from property outside the bankruptcy estate, or tax audits.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay Family court matters involving custody, visitation, paternity, and domestic violence continue as well. If you filed and dismissed another bankruptcy within the past year, the stay may be limited to 30 days or may not take effect at all.
The 341 Meeting and the Second Course
The court schedules a meeting of creditors — the 341 meeting — for 20 to 40 days after filing. Despite the name, creditors rarely appear in consumer cases. The trustee runs the meeting; no judge is present. You’ll be placed under oath and questioned about your schedules, assets, and debts. Uncontested meetings typically last around ten minutes.
After the 341 meeting, you must complete a second required course on personal financial management. This is separate from the pre-filing credit counseling. You have 60 days from the first date set for the 341 meeting to finish it and file the certificate. Miss that filing and you don’t get a discharge.
In a Chapter 7 case, the discharge typically enters about 60 days after the first scheduled 341 meeting date, assuming no objections.14United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics In Chapter 13, the discharge comes at the end of your three-to-five-year plan, after you’ve made all required payments.
Debts Bankruptcy Will Not Erase
Some debts survive the discharge in either chapter.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The most common are child support and alimony, recent income taxes and taxes tied to a fraudulent or unfiled return, government-backed student loans (absent an undue hardship showing that remains hard to meet), debts from injury or death caused by drunk driving, criminal fines and restitution and other government penalties, debts obtained through fraud (which creditors must ask the court to declare nondischargeable), and any debt you fail to list unless the creditor had actual notice of the case.
Chapter 13 offers a slightly broader discharge than Chapter 7: certain willful and malicious property damage debts, obligations incurred to pay nondischargeable taxes, and property settlement debts from divorce can be wiped out at the end of a completed Chapter 13 plan but not in Chapter 7.14United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics That difference is one reason some people choose Chapter 13 even when they could qualify for Chapter 7.
What It Costs
The court filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13.16United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Chapter 7 filers can request installment payments and, if income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, may qualify for a full fee waiver.
The two required courses generally cost $20 to $100 each. Many approved providers offer reduced or free sessions for filers who show hardship.
Attorney fees are usually the biggest expense. A straightforward Chapter 7 typically runs $1,000 to $2,500. Chapter 13 commonly runs $2,500 to $5,000 or higher because of ongoing plan administration, and those fees can often be paid through the plan rather than up front. Filing pro se is legal but risky, especially in Chapter 13, where plan approval requires meeting detailed statutory requirements.
Credit Report and How Soon You Can File Again
A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for up to 10 years from the filing date.17Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports The score hit is severe at first but fades over time, especially if you rebuild through secured cards or small installment loans paid on time.
Federal law also restricts refiling. After a Chapter 7 discharge, you cannot receive another Chapter 7 discharge in a case filed within eight years of the earlier filing date.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge You can file Chapter 13 sooner — four years after a prior Chapter 7 filing, or two years after a prior Chapter 13 filing — but the clocks run filing date to filing date, not discharge to discharge. Filing inside those windows doesn’t block you from bankruptcy protection, but it does block you from receiving a discharge, which sharply limits the point of filing.