Bankruptcy public guide
Understand the bankruptcy process before deciding what comes next
Learn how consumer bankruptcy generally works, compare published income figures, organize records, and find reliable public resources.
General legal information. A licensed attorney can apply it to your facts.
Facing a sale, repossession, garnishment, or court date?
Deadlines can be short and bankruptcy timing can matter. Keep every notice and contact a licensed bankruptcy attorney or legal-aid organization promptly.
Your first useful result
Build a bankruptcy starting roadmap
Choose the situation that is closest. The result organizes first moves, records, source-linked tools, and questions for licensed review.
No account or email. Answers stay in this browser and are not submitted.
One selection produces the roadmap immediately.
What each roadmap covers
Open any path to see the information it organizes before making a selection.
What could happen to my home or property?+
Organize value, loans, ownership, transfers, and the exemption source for the relevant state.
The roadmap organizes:
- List each major asset, its current estimated value, and every loan secured by it.
- Open the source-linked exemption page for the relevant state and note whether state or federal exemptions may be available.
- Record recent transfers, sales, gifts, liens, and changes in ownership separately.
- Keep the arithmetic separate from the legal exemption analysis for attorney review.
Records:
Mortgage and vehicle-loan statements · Recent valuations or appraisals · Titles and deeds · Transfer, sale, or lien records
How do income and the two common chapters compare?+
Start with household, income-period, debt, and published median information without treating one number as an eligibility result.
The roadmap organizes:
- Identify household members and every income source received during the relevant period.
- Compare the stated figures with the current published U.S. Trustee Program table for the state.
- Separate secured, priority, and general unsecured debts for a clearer chapter discussion.
- Note business-related debt, recent income changes, and unusual expenses for individual review.
Records:
Pay records and benefit statements · Recent tax returns · Six months of income information · Debt statements and collection notices
I am facing garnishment, repossession, foreclosure, or a lawsuit+
Put the event, deadline, property, and notice history in one place before time-sensitive review.
The roadmap organizes:
- Write down every date shown on the notice, summons, sale notice, or repossession communication.
- Keep the complete document, envelope, payment history, and related court or creditor messages together.
- Identify the property, account, employer, court, and creditor connected to the event.
- Use licensed local help for the effect of bankruptcy timing on a specific event.
Records:
Complete notices and envelopes · Court docket or summons · Payment and account history · Prior settlement or repayment communications
I want to understand the filing process+
See the common stages, information categories, public forms, counseling steps, and court milestones.
The roadmap organizes:
- Identify the federal bankruptcy court district connected to the filing location.
- Organize income, debts, assets, contracts, lawsuits, transfers, and household information by category.
- Review the official court overview and approved credit-counseling information.
- List unresolved facts for a licensed bankruptcy attorney or legal-aid organization.
Records:
Income and tax records · Complete creditor list · Asset and insurance records · Lawsuit, lease, support, and contract documents
Published by DocketBuddy · Roadmap content reviewed August 9, 2026 · State pages carry their own source verification and review dates.
How the process is usually organized
Compare the two common chapters
Review the general purpose, structure, and common differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.
Gather the information a filing uses
Income, debts, assets, recent transactions, lawsuits, and household information commonly appear in the filing process.
Confirm the court and required steps
Bankruptcy is a federal court process with forms, counseling requirements, deadlines, and local procedures.
Check the current state exemption rules
Choose a state for source-linked homestead, vehicle, wildcard, and federal-exemption-system reference points. Provisional jurisdictions are withheld.
Browse all 49 published state guides
Guides and tools
Bankruptcy home equity worksheet
Organize a home-value estimate, secured balances, selling costs, and an optional separately verified exemption reference amount.
Chapter 7 income comparison
Compare stated income with the current U.S. Trustee Program median table.
Bankruptcy public guides
Browse plain-language articles about filing, debt, property, and the court process.
Official and public sources
Use these sources to verify the common process. Need help applying it to your situation? Find licensed help.
For bankruptcy attorneys
Want the current rule carried into the filing workflow?
See how DocketBuddy connects source-linked exemptions, income data, documents, risk review, and attorney decisions in one matter.
Ready for help with your situation?
Open independent public lawyer-finding resources now. DocketBuddy does not rank attorneys or send your information to one.