How much will my Chapter 13 payment be?

No one can give you a reliable figure without your schedules and claim amounts. The payment is whatever satisfies the priority-payment requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2), the liquidation floor of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4), the disposable-income requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b), and the treatment of any secured claims you keep, spread across the plan term.

Can my plan payment change after it is confirmed?

Yes. 11 U.S.C. § 1329(a) allows the plan to be modified after confirmation and before payments are completed, on request of the debtor, the trustee, or a holder of an allowed unsecured claim, to increase or reduce payments on a class of claims or extend or reduce the time for those payments. 11 U.S.C. § 1329(c) limits how far the period can be extended.

Does the plan payment include my mortgage?

It depends on the district and the plan. Some districts use conduit mortgage payment plans, in which the trustee disburses the ongoing monthly mortgage payment, so it is inside the plan payment (Vermont Local Bankruptcy Rules — 2024). In other cases the debtor pays the mortgage directly and only the prepetition arrearage is cured through the plan.

Are court fees and attorney's fees part of the payment?

Often, yes. Court filing fees may be paid in installments, and attorney's fees are commonly paid through the plan in Chapter 13 cases. In addition, 11 U.S.C. § 1326(b) requires that certain administrative claims and the standing trustee's percentage fee be paid before or at the time of each payment to creditors, which raises the amount the plan must fund.

What happens if I cannot afford the calculated payment?

The court must find, under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(6), that the debtor will be able to make all payments under the plan and comply with it. If the required payment does not fit the household budget, the plan is generally not confirmable as proposed, and the structure, plan length, or treatment of collateral has to be reconsidered with counsel.

Chapter 13

How Your Chapter 13 Plan Payment Is Calculated

A Chapter 13 plan payment is not a number you pick. It is the amount needed to satisfy several legal tests at once: full payment of priority claims, the required treatment of secured claims you want to keep, at least what creditors would receive in a Chapter 7 liquidation, and your projected disposable income over the applicable commitment period.

Key points

The plan payment is whatever amount clears every applicable statutory floor at the same time, not the amount you feel you can afford.
11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2) requires full payment of priority claims, so priority tax and support debts push the payment up.
11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4) sets a liquidation floor: unsecured creditors must receive at least what Chapter 7 would have paid them.
11 U.S.C. § 1325(b) can require projected disposable income to fund the plan across the applicable commitment period.
Local plan forms and district rules change what the trustee disburses, so two identical budgets can produce different payments in different districts.

If you are looking at Chapter 13, the first question is almost always the same: what would the monthly payment be? The honest answer is that the payment is an output, not an input. Several parts of the Bankruptcy Code each set a minimum, and the plan payment is the number that satisfies all of them at once over the plan's length.

How is a Chapter 13 plan payment actually calculated?

There is no single formula. A Chapter 13 plan payment has to clear several separate floors at the same time, and the payment is whatever number is high enough to satisfy all of them.

Under 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2), the plan must provide for full payment, in deferred cash payments, of all claims entitled to priority, unless the holder of a particular claim agrees to different treatment. Under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4), the value distributed on each allowed unsecured claim cannot be less than what that claim would be paid if the estate were liquidated under Chapter 7. Under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b), an objection can require that projected disposable income be applied to plan payments across the applicable commitment period.

On top of those, 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(5) governs what secured creditors must receive if you keep the collateral, and 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(6) requires the court to find that you will be able to make all payments under the plan.

What changes the answer for one household versus another?

Most of the inputs are facts about your case rather than choices you make. Arrears on a mortgage or vehicle loan you want to keep have to be cured through the plan, which raises the payment directly. Nonexempt equity raises the liquidation floor under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4), because unsecured creditors must not do worse than they would in Chapter 7. Priority debts, such as certain taxes and domestic support obligations, must be paid in full under 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2).

Administrative costs ride inside the plan too. The Chapter 13 filing fee is $235 (28 U.S.C. § 1930(a)(1)(B)), and a separate administrative fee of $78 applies (Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, Item 8, effective December 1, 2023). Attorney's fees are frequently paid through the plan as well. And 11 U.S.C. § 1326(b) requires the standing trustee's percentage fee to be paid before or at the time of each payment to creditors.

What does federal law say about the payment?

Four provisions do most of the work, and they are worth reading in the order a plan is built. 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(1) requires the plan to submit as much of your future income to the trustee's supervision as is necessary to execute the plan. 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2) sets the priority-claim requirement. 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4) sets the best-interests-of-creditors floor. 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b) governs disposable income and the applicable commitment period.

Timing is statutory as well. Under 11 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1), unless the court orders otherwise, the debtor must commence making payments not later than 30 days after the plan is filed or the order for relief, whichever is earlier. Payments made before confirmation are retained by the trustee and returned if the plan is not confirmed, subject to deductions the statute lists.

What each provision requires
Provision	What it controls
11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2)	Full payment of priority claims in deferred cash payments
11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4)	Unsecured creditors receive at least the Chapter 7 liquidation value
11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)	Projected disposable income across the applicable commitment period
11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(5)	Treatment of allowed secured claims you keep
11 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1)	First payment due not later than 30 days after filing

Where do state or local rules change the number?

State law matters mostly through exemptions, because exemptions determine how much nonexempt equity feeds the liquidation floor. Those amounts live on the state pages rather than here, and they differ substantially.

District practice matters just as much. Some districts run conduit mortgage plans, where the trustee disburses the ongoing monthly mortgage payment rather than the debtor paying it directly, which increases the amount flowing through the plan (Vermont Local Bankruptcy Rules — 2024). In Kansas, the total plan payment must include the proposed adequate protection payment for each purchase-money secured creditor, the trustee's variable percentage fee, and any other amounts payable to the trustee (D. Kan. LBR 3015(b).1). In the Northern District of Indiana, the debtor may not reduce payments to the trustee for certain preconfirmation obligations (N.D. Ind. L.B.R. B-4002-2). Middle District of Tennessee practice routes preconfirmation payments through the trustee as well (M.D. Tenn. LBR 3070-1).

What does this look like in practice?

In practice, a lawyer or trustee builds the payment from the bottom up rather than guessing a monthly figure. Each component is estimated, totalled, and then divided across the plan term, and the result is tested against the disposable-income and liquidation floors. If the resulting payment is not one the household can sustain, the plan is not confirmable under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(6), and the structure has to change.

Plan length is part of the arithmetic. One district's own flowchart describes a confirmed Chapter 13 plan as typically lasting between 3 to 5 years (Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney). A longer term spreads the same required total across more months. We do not publish a verified payment estimate for every district, and any number produced before claims are filed is provisional.

Components that typically make up the plan payment
Component	What drives it
Secured arrears	Amount needed to cure default on collateral you keep
Ongoing secured payments	Whether the district uses conduit disbursement
Priority claims	Certain taxes and domestic support obligations, paid in full
Unsecured distribution	The higher of the liquidation floor and disposable income
Administrative items	Filing and administrative fees, attorney's fees, trustee percentage fee

What documents and information go into the calculation?

The calculation is document-driven, which is why an estimate given before the paperwork exists is only an estimate. Districts publish their required filing lists, and they are consistent about what feeds the payment.

The income and expense side comes from Official Form 122C-1 (Statement of Your Current Monthly Income and Calculation of Commitment Period) and, where required, Official Form 122C-2 (Chapter 13 Calculation of Your Disposable Income), which applies IRS National and Local Standards to certain expense categories. Schedules I and J show actual monthly income and expenses. Schedules A/B, C, D and E/F establish what you own, what you claim as exempt, and who is owed what.

Official Forms 122C-1 and 122C-2 — commitment period and disposable income
Schedules I and J — current income and monthly expenses
Schedules A/B, C, D, E/F — assets, exemptions, secured and priority claims
Copies of pay advices received before filing, as the district requires
The Chapter 13 plan itself, plus proofs of claim once creditors file them

What should you ask a lawyer about your payment?

Because the payment is an output of several tests, the useful questions are about the inputs and about what happens when they move. A consultation is also where district-specific practice gets applied to your actual numbers, which no general page can do.

It is worth asking early whether your plan can be modified later. Under 11 U.S.C. § 1329(a), after confirmation and before completion of payments, the plan may be modified on request of the debtor, the trustee, or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim to increase or reduce payment amounts or extend or reduce the time for payments, subject to the limits in 11 U.S.C. § 1329(c).

How much nonexempt equity do I have, and how does it change the liquidation floor?
Does this district use conduit mortgage payments, and how would that affect the payment?
Which of my debts are priority claims that must be paid in full?
What plan length are you proposing, and why that length?
If my income drops, what does a modification under § 1329 realistically look like?
What is paid through the plan versus directly by me?

Frequently asked questions

How much will my Chapter 13 payment be?: No one can give you a reliable figure without your schedules and claim amounts. The payment is whatever satisfies the priority-payment requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2), the liquidation floor of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(4), the disposable-income requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b), and the treatment of any secured claims you keep, spread across the plan term.
When does the first plan payment have to start?: Under 11 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1), unless the court orders otherwise, the debtor must commence making payments not later than 30 days after the date the plan is filed or the order for relief, whichever is earlier. That is generally before confirmation. The trustee retains those payments until the plan is confirmed or confirmation is denied.
Can my plan payment change after it is confirmed?: Yes. 11 U.S.C. § 1329(a) allows the plan to be modified after confirmation and before payments are completed, on request of the debtor, the trustee, or a holder of an allowed unsecured claim, to increase or reduce payments on a class of claims or extend or reduce the time for those payments. 11 U.S.C. § 1329(c) limits how far the period can be extended.
Does the plan payment include my mortgage?: It depends on the district and the plan. Some districts use conduit mortgage payment plans, in which the trustee disburses the ongoing monthly mortgage payment, so it is inside the plan payment (Vermont Local Bankruptcy Rules — 2024). In other cases the debtor pays the mortgage directly and only the prepetition arrearage is cured through the plan.
Are court fees and attorney's fees part of the payment?: Often, yes. Court filing fees may be paid in installments, and attorney's fees are commonly paid through the plan in Chapter 13 cases. In addition, 11 U.S.C. § 1326(b) requires that certain administrative claims and the standing trustee's percentage fee be paid before or at the time of each payment to creditors, which raises the amount the plan must fund.
What happens if I cannot afford the calculated payment?: The court must find, under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(6), that the debtor will be able to make all payments under the plan and comply with it. If the required payment does not fit the household budget, the plan is generally not confirmable as proposed, and the structure, plan length, or treatment of collateral has to be reconsidered with counsel.

Sources

11 U.S.C. § 1322 — Contents of plan · official source
11 U.S.C. § 1325 — Confirmation of plan · official source
11 U.S.C. § 1326 — Payments · official source
11 U.S.C. § 1329 — Modification of plan after confirmation · official source
28 U.S.C. § 1930(a)(1)(B) — Chapter 13 filing fee
Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, Item 8 — Chapter 13 administrative fee
Vermont Local Bankruptcy Rules — 2024 — Conduit mortgage payment plans in Chapter 13
D. Kan. LBR 3015(b).1 — Chapter 13 plan and pre-confirmation adequate protection payments
N.D. Ind. L.B.R. B-4002-2 — Payments by debtors in Chapter 13 cases
M.D. Tenn. LBR 3070-1 — Chapter 13 — payments
Bankr. D. Minn. official guidance — Chapter 13 Process for Debtors without an Attorney
Bankr. N.D. Iowa official page — Chapter 13 Filing Requirements
Bankr. E.D. La. official guidance — Chapter 13 Form Packet

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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