In order to file your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, the court charges a filing fee in the amount of $313.00 currently. In addition, you must pay for two additional costs: Credit Counseling and the Debtor Education Course.
Credit Counseling is required of all individual debtors, business or non-business, prior to the bankruptcy filing. The US Trustee’s office maintains a list of approved credit counselors for each district in the United States.
In general, you should not be charged over $50 Dollars per person for a credit counseling session for bankruptcy. Our office refers clients to either Debthelper.com or Cricketdebt.com . Credit counseling includes discussing our monthly income, expenditures, and debt payments to determine if you are eligible to file bankruptcy. At the conclusion of the credit counseling session, you are given a Certificate of Credit Counseling which must be filed with the Chapter 13 Petition.
Once the Chapter 13 case is filed, the debtor must complete a Debtor Education course in Financial Management, usually a one hour course followed by a short quiz, within 3-5 years. The Financial Management course is required to obtain a Chapter 13 discharge of your debts once you have completed the Chapter 13 Plan.
If a course is not taken, the Chapter 13 case will be dismissed without a discharge, after you have completed the plan! So it is very important that you complete this course. The US Trustee’s office maintains a list of approved Debtor Education course providers. Our office refers clients to either Debthelper.com or Cricketdebt.com.
At the conclusion of the course in Financial Management, you are given a Certificate of Completion of Debtor’s Education. This certificate must be filed with the Bankruptcy Court in order to obtain your Chapter 13 discharge.