What Does it Cost to File Bankruptcy in Kentucky?

Court Costs

Regardless of where you file bankruptcy in the United States, the filing fees are the same. As of 2010, for a chapter 7 bankruptcy in Kentucky, as in the rest of the 50 states, you must pay the courts $299. This fee consists of a $245 filing fee, a $39 administrative fee and a $15 chapter 7 surcharge. If you have difficulty paying the fee, you can apply to pay in installments. You can also apply to waive the filing fee altogether if your income is less than 150 percent of the poverty level for a family of your size in the state of Kentucky.

Attorney fees can vary wildly depending on the type of case you file. If you file a simple chapter 7 in which you have no valuable assets to protect and no complexities, such as businesses or recent asset transfers, your fee will be less than more complicated cases. The typical range of attorney fees for chapter 7 bankruptcies is $1,500 to $3,500. For a chapter 13 bankruptcy, which involves keeping your assets and paying back creditors a percentage of what you owe them, attorney fees range from about $3,300 to about $4,000. In Kentucky, you can generally find lawyers in the lower end of the price range.

If you have to change any part of your bankruptcy petition after you file it, you must file an amendment with the court. In Kentucky, most amendments cost $26. Exceptions to this fee include changes to the address of a listed creditor, or changes to the name and address of the attorney of record for one of your creditors. The District Court of Kentucky may also waive amendment fees for good cause on a case-by-case basis.

In addition to the financial costs, filing bankruptcy is also a stressful process that carries emotional costs. If you work without an attorney, or "pro se," you may save yourself the attorney fees, but you have to spend a lot of time and stress figuring out how to file your petition correctly, knowing that an incomplete or erroneous petition may be dismissed by the court. Even when working with an attorney, filing bankruptcy is a stressful time when many debtors face the truth of their financial situation for the first time.