How to File for Bankruptcy in Missouri: Forms, Exemptions, and Fees

To file for bankruptcy in Missouri, you complete a pre-filing credit counseling course, decide between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, prepare a federal petition with schedules that use Missouri’s state exemptions, and submit everything to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for either the Eastern District (St. Louis) or Western District (Kansas City) along with the filing fee. After that, a trustee is assigned, you attend a short meeting of creditors, finish a second financial education course, and receive your discharge.

The rest of this article walks through each step and the choices built into it.

Decide Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13

This choice comes first because it changes everything else on the forms.

Chapter 7 is the faster option. A trustee reviews your assets, sells anything not protected by Missouri’s exemptions, pays creditors from the proceeds, and the remaining qualifying debt is discharged. The discharge typically arrives three to six months after filing. Most filers keep everything they own because their property falls inside the exemption limits.

Chapter 13 is a repayment plan lasting three to five years. You make monthly payments to a trustee who distributes them to creditors, and you receive the discharge only after completing the plan.¹ The advantage is keeping property you’ve fallen behind on, like a house in foreclosure or a car facing repossession. For cases filed between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2028, Chapter 13 is off-limits if your secured debts exceed $1,580,125 or your unsecured debts exceed $526,700.²

You can’t simply choose Chapter 7. Federal law applies a means test that compares your average monthly household income over the six months before filing to Missouri’s median income for a household your size. Below the median, you qualify. Above it, the test moves to a second phase that subtracts allowed expenses from your income; if the leftover disposable income could fund a meaningful repayment plan, the court presumes Chapter 13 is your path. You can try to rebut that presumption, but the burden is on you.

Take the Pre-Filing Credit Counseling Course

Federal law requires you to complete credit counseling from a U.S. Trustee-approved agency within the 180 days before you file.² The course covers budgeting basics and alternatives to bankruptcy, and you can take it by phone, online, or in person. The Department of Justice publishes the approved provider list for Missouri.³ Cost is typically around $20 per household, and fee waivers are sometimes available.

The agency issues a certificate of completion. You file it with your petition, so keep it handy.

Gather Your Financial Records

Bankruptcy paperwork demands a full accounting of your finances. Before you open the forms, pull together:

Pay stubs or other proof of every source of income received during the six months before filing, including wages, self-employment earnings, rental income, and government benefits.
Your most recent federal income tax return, which must reach the trustee at least seven days before your meeting of creditors. Many trustees request two years. Chapter 13 filers must have filed all required returns for the four tax years before the petition date.⁴
An asset inventory: real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, retirement accounts, and personal belongings with estimated values.
A debt list showing every creditor’s name, address, account number, and balance.
A monthly budget of current income and living expenses.

Self-employed filers need more. Trustees typically want two to three years of business bank statements, invoices or contracts showing income, and monthly profit-and-loss statements to establish your average income for the six months before filing.

Valuing What You Own

You report current fair market value, not what you paid. For household goods, clothing, and electronics, that’s what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller with no pressure to close. Thrift store prices, garage sales, and online auction listings give you reasonable comparables. Keep notes on where you found each price, and list the age and condition of every item. Overvaluing your belongings can cost you exempt property; undervaluing them can get your case dismissed for dishonesty.

Know Missouri’s Exemptions Before You Fill Out Schedule C

Missouri does not let filers use the federal bankruptcy exemptions. You must use the state exemptions, which set what the trustee cannot take. These limits matter most in Chapter 7, where non-exempt property can be sold. The main ones:

Homestead: up to $15,000 of equity in your primary residence, including the land used with it. If both spouses claim it, the combined total is still $15,000 per homestead.⁵
Motor vehicles: up to $3,000 in total vehicle equity.⁶
Household goods: up to $3,000 for furnishings, appliances, clothing, and similar items.⁶
Tools of the trade: up to $3,000 for equipment and professional books needed for your job.⁶
Jewelry: a wedding ring up to $1,500 and other personal jewelry up to $500.⁶
Wildcard: up to $600 for any property not covered by another exemption.⁶

Missouri’s exemptions run low compared to many states, especially the homestead figure. If you have significant home equity or own a vehicle worth well above $3,000 free and clear, Chapter 13 often becomes the safer route because it lets you keep property in exchange for paying creditors over time.

Complete the Federal Bankruptcy Forms

The petition itself is the Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy. It carries your basic information, the chapter you’re filing under, and your credit counseling certificate. Along with it, you complete a series of schedules:

Schedule A/B lists all of your property and its value.
Schedule C identifies which exemption you’re claiming for each asset.
Schedule D lists creditors holding secured claims, such as a mortgage lender or auto lender.
Schedule E/F lists unsecured creditors, including credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans.
The Statement of Financial Affairs covers your recent financial history: income, payments to creditors, lawsuits, and property transfers.

These are official federal forms available from the U.S. Courts website. Everything you file is declared under penalty of perjury. Honest mistakes can usually be corrected by amendment; intentionally hiding assets or income can result in dismissal, denial of your discharge, or criminal prosecution.

File in the Right District and Pay the Fee

Missouri has two federal bankruptcy districts. Which one you file in depends on the county you live in. The Eastern District of Missouri sits in St. Louis, and the Western District is based in Kansas City.⁷ You can file in person at the clerk’s office or by mail. The Eastern District also offers an Electronic Self-Representation tool that lets filers without an attorney submit documents online.⁸

The filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13.⁹ If paying upfront isn’t realistic, you have two options:

Apply to pay in installments, split into up to four payments completed within 120 days of filing (extendable to 180 days for good cause).¹⁰
In Chapter 7 only, apply for a full fee waiver if your household income falls below 150% of the federal poverty guideline. No fee waiver is available in Chapter 13.¹¹

Filing without an attorney is legal but risky. Mistakes can delay the case, cost you exemptions, or lead to dismissal. Attorney fees for a straightforward Chapter 7 case generally run $1,000 to $3,000 depending on complexity, and are separate from the court’s filing fee.

What Happens Once the Petition Is Filed

The Automatic Stay Kicks In

The moment the clerk accepts your petition, the automatic stay takes effect. It stops nearly all collection activity: phone calls, lawsuits, wage garnishment, repossession, and foreclosure cannot go forward without court permission.¹²

Repeat filers face a limit. If you had a bankruptcy case dismissed within the past year, the stay in your new case expires after 30 days unless you ask the court to extend it. If you had two or more cases dismissed in the past year, the stay doesn’t take effect at all unless the court grants a motion to impose it.¹²

The Trustee and the 341 Meeting

The court assigns a trustee shortly after filing. In Chapter 7, the trustee reviews your paperwork, verifies your finances, and sells any non-exempt assets. In Chapter 13, the trustee collects your monthly plan payments and pays creditors. You’ll need to send the trustee your most recent tax return and recent bank statements before the hearing.

About 20 to 40 days after filing you attend the meeting of creditors, also called the 341 meeting. Creditors rarely show up despite the name. The trustee questions you under oath about your forms and financial situation.¹³ No judge is present, and if your paperwork is in order the meeting usually takes about 10 minutes. Bring a government-issued photo ID and proof of your Social Security number.

Debtor Education, Then Discharge

After the 341 meeting you must complete a second course, called debtor education, from an approved provider. This is separate from the pre-filing credit counseling. Without the completion certificate, the court will not issue your discharge.

In Chapter 7, the discharge order typically arrives three to six months after filing. In Chapter 13, it arrives only after you complete every payment in your plan, meaning three to five years later. The discharge permanently eliminates your personal liability on covered debts and bars creditors from ever trying to collect them.¹⁴

If You Have Filed Bankruptcy Before

Federal law imposes waiting periods between discharges. If you received a discharge in an earlier case, you cannot receive another one until enough time has passed from the filing date of that prior case:

Chapter 7 after Chapter 7: eight years.¹⁵
Chapter 13 after Chapter 7: four years.
Chapter 13 after Chapter 13: two years.
Chapter 7 after Chapter 13: six years, unless you paid 100% of unsecured claims, or at least 70% under a good-faith plan.

These periods run filing date to filing date. You can file a new case before the period expires, but you won’t be eligible for a discharge, which defeats the point for most filers.

1
United States Courts. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
3
United States Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 521 – Debtors Duties
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 513.475 – Homestead Defined, Exempt From Execution
6
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 513.430 – Property Exempt From Attachment
7
United States Bankruptcy Court. Eastern District of Missouri Bankruptcy Court
8
United States Bankruptcy Court. eSR Electronic Self-Representation
9
United States Bankruptcy Court. Filing Fees
10
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1930 – Bankruptcy Fees
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
13
United States Department of Justice. US Trustee Program Section 341 Meeting of Creditors
14
United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge