Bankruptcy Fees and Costs

When a debtor files for bankruptcy, with an attorney, he or she will incur certain fees and costs associated with the bankruptcy filing. The following is a breakdown of the fees and costs associated with filing for bankruptcy using Shmucher Law, PL:

Filing Fees
When a debtor files for bankruptcy they must pay the bankruptcy a filing fee. Currently the filing fee for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is $299 and the filing fee for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is $274. The filing fee is the same for a business, an individual, or joint filers. The filing fee for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is $1039.

Credit Reports
When a debtor files for bankruptcy it is imperative that they list all of their outstanding debts. The easiest way to obtain a list of outstanding debts is to run a credit report using the debtor’s social security number and address. Shmucher Law, PL uses a credit repot company that gathers the debtor’s debts using all three credit bureaus as well as provides the debtor their current credit score and their estimated credit score twelve months after they have received their bankruptcy discharge. The fee for an individual credit report is $30 and for joint filers is $50. Currently there is no way to run a credit report for a business.

Credit Counseling
The new bankruptcy laws require every debtor, except businesses, to take both a pre-filing course called the budget and credit counseling and a post-filing course called financial management counseling. Shmucher Law, PL has an affiliation with a company (Start Fresh Today) that allows debtors to complete counseling courses on the internet. The charge for the pre-filing course is $30 and the charge for the post filing course is $15.

Attorney Fees in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Attorney’s fees vary from case-to-case and an attorney cannot just say “This is what it costs to do a chapter 7 or chapter 13.″ Every case has a totally different set of facts, a different number of creditors, a different emergency that needs to be taken into account, and other type of variables. Attorney’s fees usually are paid as a fixed fee, which means that once you pay the set fees and costs, there are no other costs for normal cases. Some attorneys advertise or tell you on the telephone that their fees start at a certain amount, which is low, but they usually charge more than that once you are in their office. Shmucher Law, PL typically charges an out the door price of $1,530 (attorney fee, credit report, and filing fee) for the majority of our cases. However certain cases require us to charge more and certain simple cases can be less.

All Chapter 7 fees must be paid in full prior to the filing of a bankruptcy case. Payment methods can include cash check or money order. We do not accept credit cards or debt cards as means of payment.

Attorney Fees in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are a lot more complicated than a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Fees in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy will vary between $2,000 to upwards of $4,000 in cases where the second mortgage will be stripped.

Chapter 13 fees can be paid over the life of your bankruptcy case, either three or five years. Typically in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy Shmucher Law, PL will accept between $500-2,000 to file your case and the rest of the payment will be paid through the life of the plan. Payment methods can include cash check or money order. We do not accept credit cards or debt cards as means of payment.

Shmucher Law, PL, a bankruptcy law firm, represents debtors, creditors, and trustees in bankruptcy matters throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties.