How long does a Chapter 13 plan last?

Chapter 13 plans commonly run three to five years (Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney). Length is not purely a choice. Where a plan provides less than full payment on certain assigned domestic support priority claims, all projected disposable income for a five-year period must go into plan payments (11 U.S.C. § 1322).

Can a Chapter 13 plan change my mortgage payment?

Generally not the payment terms themselves. A plan may modify the rights of holders of secured claims, but that power does not extend to a claim secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor's principal residence (11 U.S.C. § 1322). What a plan commonly does instead is cure the arrears over time while maintaining the regular contractual payments.

When do plan payments start?

Unless the court orders otherwise, the debtor commences payments no later than 30 days after the date the plan is filed or the order for relief, whichever is earlier (11 U.S.C. § 1326). The trustee retains those payments until confirmation is granted or denied. That means payments typically begin well before the court has ruled on the plan.

What happens if the court does not confirm the plan?

If a plan is not confirmed, the trustee returns payments not already due and owing to creditors, after deducting any allowed administrative claim (11 U.S.C. § 1326). Districts then set a short window to respond: one court's guidance describes filing a new plan, seeking reconsideration or appeal, or dismissing or converting the case within 14 days (Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney).

Can a plan be changed after it is filed?

Amended plans are routine before confirmation, and local rules set the mechanics. In one district, an order sustaining an objection may require a feasible amended plan within 14 days, noted for hearing with the required notice (W.D. Wash. LBR 3015-1). Deadlines and forms vary by district, so check the local rule that applies where you file.

Does Chapter 13 affect someone who cosigned with me?

It can. After the order for relief, the Code generally bars a creditor from acting or continuing a civil action to collect a consumer debt of the debtor from an individual who is also liable on it, with stated exceptions and a process for the creditor to seek relief from that stay (11 U.S.C. § 1301). How your plan treats the claim matters to that analysis.

Do I have to use my district's plan form?

Usually yes. Some districts mandate Official Form 113 unless the court grants leave to file in another format (Vt. LBR 3015-1). Others mandate a local form and treat variations outside a designated special-provisions section as void (M.D. Ga. LBR 3015-1). Filing on the wrong form is a common and avoidable problem.

Chapter 13

What a Chapter 13 Plan Contains

A Chapter 13 plan is the document that tells the court and your creditors how you propose to use future income to pay debts over time. Federal law requires it to commit income to the trustee, pay priority claims in full in deferred cash payments, and treat claims in the same class alike (11 U.S.C. § 1322). Most districts require a standard plan form.

Key points

Only the debtor may file a Chapter 13 plan, and the plan is a proposal until the court confirms it (11 U.S.C. § 1321).
11 U.S.C. § 1322 divides plan contents into what a plan must include and a longer list of what it may include.
A plan may modify the rights of most secured creditors, but not a claim secured only by a security interest in the debtor's principal residence (11 U.S.C. § 1322).
Most districts require a specific plan form and add their own required contents, such as collateral values and stated interest rates (E.D. Mich. LBR 3015-1).
Payments generally begin no later than 30 days after the plan is filed or the order for relief, whichever is earlier, and the trustee holds them until confirmation (11 U.S.C. § 1326).

If you are looking at Chapter 13, the plan is the part that decides what your next three to five years actually look like. It is a structured court form, not a letter, and most of what goes in it is dictated by federal law and by the local rules of the district where you file. Here is what a plan contains, and where the content comes from.

How does a Chapter 13 plan actually work?

A Chapter 13 plan is a proposal until the court confirms it. Only the debtor files it (11 U.S.C. § 1321), and it sets out how much you propose to pay, for how long, and who gets paid in what order. Payments generally start early: unless the court orders otherwise, payments begin no later than 30 days after the plan is filed or the order for relief, whichever is earlier (11 U.S.C. § 1326). The trustee holds those payments until confirmation is granted or denied, and returns them, less any allowed administrative claim, if the plan is not confirmed. Confirmation has its own standards. The court confirms a plan that complies with the Code, was proposed in good faith, gives unsecured creditors at least what they would receive if the estate were liquidated under Chapter 7, and that the debtor will be able to perform (11 U.S.C. § 1325).

What changes what your plan has to say?

Two things drive most of the content: what you own that secures a debt, and what you owe that the Code treats as priority. If you want to keep a house with mortgage arrears or a financed vehicle, the plan has to address curing the default and maintaining the ongoing payment (11 U.S.C. § 1322). If you owe taxes or support, the plan generally has to provide for full payment of those priority claims in deferred cash payments unless the holder of a particular claim agrees to different treatment. Plan length can be driven by the same section: where a plan provides less than full payment on certain assigned domestic support priority claims, all of the debtor's projected disposable income for a five-year period must be applied to plan payments. Whether someone signed with you, whether you have leases, and whether you are surrendering collateral each add their own provisions.

Secured debt you intend to keep: cure amounts, ongoing payments, collateral value, interest rate.
Priority debt such as taxes and support: generally paid in full in deferred cash payments.
Collateral you are giving up: a surrender provision, which in many districts also ends the stay as to that creditor on confirmation.
Leases and executory contracts: assumption, rejection, or assignment.
A codebtor on a consumer debt, which brings 11 U.S.C. § 1301 into the picture.

What does federal law say a plan must contain?

The contents rule is 11 U.S.C. § 1322, and it splits into what a plan must do and what a plan may do. It must provide for submitting as much of your future earnings or other future income to the trustee's supervision and control as executing the plan requires. It must provide for full payment, in deferred cash payments, of claims entitled to priority, unless the holder of a particular claim agrees to different treatment. And if it classifies claims, it must give the same treatment to each claim within a class. What it may do is broader: cure or waive defaults, modify the rights of holders of secured claims other than a claim secured only by a security interest in the debtor's principal residence, pay secured and unsecured claims concurrently, maintain payments on long-term debt while curing the default, and assume, reject, or assign a lease or executory contract.

Required and permitted plan contents under 11 U.S.C. § 1322
Plan provision	Status under 11 U.S.C. § 1322
Submission of future income to the trustee's supervision and control	Required
Full payment of priority claims in deferred cash payments, absent the holder's agreement	Required
Equal treatment of claims within a class	Required if the plan classifies claims
Curing or waiving a default	Permitted
Modifying the rights of a secured claim not secured only by the principal residence	Permitted
Curing a default and maintaining payments on debt whose last payment falls after the final plan payment	Permitted
Assuming, rejecting, or assigning an executory contract or unexpired lease	Permitted

Where do state or local rules differ?

Federal law sets the floor; your district usually sets the form. Some districts require the national plan form, Official Form 113, and channel valuation, lien avoidance, lien stripping, payment modification, and surrender requests through checkboxes and parts of the plan itself (Vt. LBR 3015-1). Others use a mandatory local form and restrict changes to a designated special-provisions section, treating stray variations as having no binding effect (M.D. Ga. LBR 3015-1; W.D. Wash. LBR 3015-1). Several districts add required contents on top of federal law: a value for each item of encumbered property, the interest rate on each secured claim stated as a number rather than a formula, the order in which claims are paid, and an attached analysis of what creditors would receive in a Chapter 7 case (E.D. Mich. LBR 3015-1; LAMB LBR 3015-1). State law reaches the plan mainly through exemptions, which live on the state pages.

What does this look like in practice?

In practice the plan is a structured form you complete, not an essay. The opening part flags what the plan asks the court to do: value collateral, avoid a lien, strip a lien, otherwise modify a claim's contract terms, or surrender collateral and terminate the stay as to it. Each of those requests is then completed in a later part of the form (Vt. LBR 3015-1). Minnesota's court describes the same structure from the docketing side, matching plan parts to the request boxes selected when the plan is filed electronically, with leases and executory contracts listed in their own part (Bankr. D. Minn. official page — Filing and Serving the Chapter 13 Plan Form [https://www.mnb.uscourts.gov/preparing-chapter-13-plan-form]). The unsecured section states what nonpriority unsecured creditors receive, expressed as a sum, a percentage, or the funds remaining after other creditors are paid, alongside what those claims would be paid in a Chapter 7 liquidation (Bankr. N.D. Ill. official guidance — Chapter 13 - Additional Documents).

Common parts of a Chapter 13 plan form
Part of the plan	What it covers
Opening notice part	Flags whether the plan includes valuation, lien avoidance, or nonstandard provisions
Plan payments	Amount paid to the trustee and the length of the plan
Secured claims	Cure amounts, ongoing payments, collateral value, interest rate, surrender
Priority claims	Taxes, support, and administrative claims
Nonpriority unsecured claims	Sum, percentage, or remaining funds, plus the Chapter 7 liquidation comparison
Executory contracts and unexpired leases	Assumption or rejection

What documents or information are involved?

The plan sits on top of the rest of the case file, and its numbers come from that file. A Chapter 13 filing generally includes the voluntary petition, schedules of property, claimed exemptions, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, executory contracts and leases, codebtors, income and expenses, the statement of financial affairs, the statement of current monthly income and calculation of the commitment period, a credit counseling certificate, and a creditor mailing matrix (Bankr. W.D. Ky. official guidance — Chapter 13 Filing Requirements). The Chapter 13 filing fee is $235 (28 U.S.C. § 1930(a)(1)(B)), plus a $78 administrative fee (Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, Item 8), and courts commonly allow an individual to apply to pay in installments. You also provide tax returns to the trustee before the meeting of creditors and begin plan payments early in the case (U.S. Bankr. Ct. M.D. Ala., Anatomy of a Bankruptcy Chapter 13).

What should you ask a lawyer about your plan?

Bring the plan's moving parts to a consultation, not just your debt total. Ask which plan form your district requires, and whether valuation, lien avoidance, or surrender must be requested inside the plan or by separate motion, because that answer changes both the document and the notice a creditor receives (N.D.N.Y. LBR 3015-1; E.D. Va. LBR 3015-2). Ask what interest rate the plan will state on each secured claim and what value it will assign to the collateral, since local rules often require both to be stated explicitly (LAEB LBR 3015-4). Ask what the plan proposes to pay unsecured creditors compared with a Chapter 7 liquidation, because confirmation turns partly on that comparison (11 U.S.C. § 1325). And ask what happens to the plan if your income changes partway through.

Which plan form does this district require, and what does it add to federal law?
Does my plan need embedded motions, and who has to be served?
What collateral values and interest rates will the plan state, and how were they chosen?
What does the plan pay unsecured creditors, and how does that compare with a Chapter 7 liquidation?
What are my options if my income drops during the plan?

Frequently asked questions

How long does a Chapter 13 plan last?: Chapter 13 plans commonly run three to five years (Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney). Length is not purely a choice. Where a plan provides less than full payment on certain assigned domestic support priority claims, all projected disposable income for a five-year period must go into plan payments (11 U.S.C. § 1322).
Can a Chapter 13 plan change my mortgage payment?: Generally not the payment terms themselves. A plan may modify the rights of holders of secured claims, but that power does not extend to a claim secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor's principal residence (11 U.S.C. § 1322). What a plan commonly does instead is cure the arrears over time while maintaining the regular contractual payments.
When do plan payments start?: Unless the court orders otherwise, the debtor commences payments no later than 30 days after the date the plan is filed or the order for relief, whichever is earlier (11 U.S.C. § 1326). The trustee retains those payments until confirmation is granted or denied. That means payments typically begin well before the court has ruled on the plan.
What happens if the court does not confirm the plan?: If a plan is not confirmed, the trustee returns payments not already due and owing to creditors, after deducting any allowed administrative claim (11 U.S.C. § 1326). Districts then set a short window to respond: one court's guidance describes filing a new plan, seeking reconsideration or appeal, or dismissing or converting the case within 14 days (Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney).
Can a plan be changed after it is filed?: Amended plans are routine before confirmation, and local rules set the mechanics. In one district, an order sustaining an objection may require a feasible amended plan within 14 days, noted for hearing with the required notice (W.D. Wash. LBR 3015-1). Deadlines and forms vary by district, so check the local rule that applies where you file.
Does Chapter 13 affect someone who cosigned with me?: It can. After the order for relief, the Code generally bars a creditor from acting or continuing a civil action to collect a consumer debt of the debtor from an individual who is also liable on it, with stated exceptions and a process for the creditor to seek relief from that stay (11 U.S.C. § 1301). How your plan treats the claim matters to that analysis.
Do I have to use my district's plan form?: Usually yes. Some districts mandate Official Form 113 unless the court grants leave to file in another format (Vt. LBR 3015-1). Others mandate a local form and treat variations outside a designated special-provisions section as void (M.D. Ga. LBR 3015-1). Filing on the wrong form is a common and avoidable problem.

Sources

11 U.S.C. § 1322 — Contents of plan · official source
11 U.S.C. § 1321 — Filing of plan
11 U.S.C. § 1325 — Confirmation of plan · official source
11 U.S.C. § 1326 — Payments · official source
11 U.S.C. § 1301 — Stay of action against codebtor · official source
Vt. LBR 3015-1 — Plan requirements in Chapter 13
M.D. Ga. LBR 3015-1 — Chapter 13 Plan
W.D. Wash. LBR 3015-1 — Chapter 13 Plans
E.D. Mich. LBR 3015-1 — The Chapter 13 Plan
LAMB LBR 3015-1 — Chapter 13 Plans
LAEB LBR 3015-4 — Contents of Chapter 12 or 13 Plans of Reorganization
N.D.N.Y. LBR 3015-1 — Chapter 13 — Plan
E.D. Va. LBR 3015-2 — Chapter 13 Plan Requirements
Bankr. D. Minn. official page — Filing and Serving the Chapter 13 Plan Form [https://www.mnb.uscourts.gov/preparing-chapter-13-plan-form] — Filing and Serving the Chapter 13 Plan Form
Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney — Chapter 13 Flowchart
Bankr. N.D. Ill. official guidance — Chapter 13 - Additional Documents — Chapter 13 additional documents
Bankr. W.D. Ky. official guidance — Chapter 13 Filing Requirements — Chapter 13 Filing Requirements
U.S. Bankr. Ct. M.D. Ala., Anatomy of a Bankruptcy Chapter 13 — Anatomy of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case
28 U.S.C. § 1930(a)(1)(B) — Bankruptcy filing fees
Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, Item 8 — Administrative fee

By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022

Last reviewed July 26, 2026 · Sources verified July 26, 2026 · How we verify

Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary legal source and checked against our canonical legal database before publication. Bankruptcy.law is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

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