Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006 — Filing Fee
Rule 1006 governs the fee that accompanies a bankruptcy petition. Subsection (a) requires the filing fee with every petition unless an exception applies. Subsection (b) lets an individual filing a voluntary petition submit a signed application to pay in installments, and the clerk must accept the petition even if no part of the fee is paid. Subsection (c) covers an application to waive a Chapter 7 filing fee.
Not having the filing fee on hand is one of the most common reasons people delay a bankruptcy case. Rule 1006 is the rule that addresses that situation directly: it says what the filing fee is, and it sets out two paths for an individual who cannot pay it all at once. It also places one restriction on what the debtor may pay other people while the fee is still outstanding.
Can I file bankruptcy if I can't pay the filing fee up front?
The rule addresses this in subsections (b) and (c). Subsection (a) states the general requirement — the filing fee accompanies the petition — but it opens by saying that requirement applies unless (b) or (c) applies. Subsection (b)(1) tells the clerk what to do when an individual filing a voluntary petition cannot pay: the clerk must accept the petition for filing, regardless of whether any part of the filing fee is paid, as long as it is accompanied by a completed and signed application to pay in installments, which the rule identifies as Form 103A. Subsection (c) sets out a parallel path for an individual's voluntary Chapter 7 petition accompanied by a completed and signed application to waive the filing fee, identified as Form 103B. In both provisions the rule speaks to acceptance for filing. Whether the court later orders full payment, sets an installment schedule, or acts on a waiver application is addressed separately, and the application itself must be complete and signed.
How do bankruptcy filing fee installments work?
Subsection (b) is the installment provision, and it has two moving parts. First, under (b)(1), the completed and signed application on Form 103A is what obligates the clerk to accept the petition for filing. Second, under (b)(2), the court decides what actually happens with the fee. The rule says that before the meeting of creditors, the court may order payment of the entire filing fee, or may order the debtor to pay it in installments. If the court sets installments, the rule requires the order to designate the number of installments, the amount of each one, and the payment dates. The rule caps the number of installments at 4. It also sets an outer time limit: all payments must be made within 120 days after the petition is filed. The court may, for cause, extend the time to pay an installment, but even then the last installment must be paid within 180 days after the petition is filed.
Can I pay my bankruptcy attorney while I still owe the filing fee?
Subsection (b)(3) speaks to this. It provides that until the filing fee has been paid in full, the debtor or the Chapter 13 trustee must not make any further payment to an attorney, or to any other person who provides services to the debtor in connection with the case. Two features of that language are worth noting. It reaches beyond attorneys — it covers any other person providing services to the debtor in connection with the case. And it names the Chapter 13 trustee alongside the debtor, so the restriction is not limited to payments the debtor writes personally. The provision is tied to the fee being paid in full; the rule does not describe a partial-payment exception. If you are working with a professional and paying over time, this is the subsection to read closely, because it governs the sequence of those payments while an installment order is outstanding.
What counts as the 'filing fee' under this rule?
Subsection (a) supplies its own definition, which matters because the amount owed may be more than a single line item. For purposes of this rule, 'filing fee' means two things. Paragraph (a)(1) points to the filing fee required by the federal statute governing bankruptcy court fees, at the paragraphs the rule names. Paragraph (a)(2) adds any other fee that the Judicial Conference of the United States requires to be paid upon filing under that same statute. The practical effect is that the installment and waiver provisions in subsections (b) and (c) are measured against this combined definition, not against one component of it. The rule itself does not state amounts. Those figures live in the fee statute and the Judicial Conference's schedule, and they are set outside this rule — which is why the rule defines the term by reference rather than by number.
Who can use the installment and waiver provisions?
The rule draws the line by filer and, for the waiver path, by chapter. Subsection (b)(1) applies to an individual's voluntary petition. Subsection (c) is narrower: it applies to an individual's voluntary Chapter 7 petition. Both provisions use the words 'completed and signed' to describe the application the petition must be accompanied by, and both identify a specific form — Form 103A for installments and Form 103B for a waiver. Read together, an individual filing voluntarily under a chapter other than 7 will find the installment route in subsection (b) available on the rule's own terms, while the waiver language in subsection (c) is written for Chapter 7. Because these are threshold requirements the clerk applies at filing, an incomplete or unsigned application is a real obstacle; the rule conditions the clerk's obligation on the application being both complete and signed.
This summary is our plain-English explanation, written to help you find the right part of the text below. The section itself is the authority — where the two differ, the text controls.
Text of Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006
Reproduced in full from the official source, verified as of July 2026. View it at the source.
(a) In General. Unless (b) or (c) applies, every petition must be accompanied by the filing fee. In this rule <sup>1</sup> "filing fee" means:
(1) the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C. §1930(a)(1)–(5); and
(2) any other fee that the Judicial Conference of the United States requires under 28 U.S.C. §1930(b) to be paid upon filing.
(b) Paying by Installment.
(1) *Application to Pay by Installment*. The clerk must accept for filing an individual's voluntary petition, regardless of whether any part of the filing fee is paid, if it is accompanied by a completed and signed application to pay in installments (Form 103A).
(2) *Court Decision on Installments*. Before the meeting of creditors, the court may order payment of the entire filing fee or may order the debtor to pay it in installments, designating the number of installments (not to exceed 4), the amount of each one, and payment dates. All payments must be made within 120 days after the petition is filed. The court may, for cause, extend the time to pay an installment, but the last one must be paid within 180 days after the petition is filed.
(3) *Postponing Other Payments*. Until the filing fee has been paid in full, the debtor or Chapter 13 trustee must not make any further payment to an attorney or any other person who provides services to the debtor in connection with the case.
(c) Waiving the Filing Fee. The clerk must accept for filing an individual's voluntary Chapter 7 petition if it is accompanied by a completed and signed application to waive the filing fee (Form 103B).
(As amended Mar. 30, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 23, 1996, eff. Dec. 1, 1996; Apr. 23, 2008, eff. Dec. 1, 2008; Apr. 27, 2017, eff. Dec. 1, 2017; Apr. 2, 2024, eff. Dec. 1, 2024.)
Notes and amendment history
Published by the official source alongside the section above. These notes record how the text has changed over time and the reasoning behind those changes. They are not the operative rule — the enacted text is the section itself.
Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules—1983
28 U.S.C. §1930 specifies the filing fees for petitions under chapters 7, 9, 11 and 13 of the Code. It also permits the payment in installments by individual debtors.
*Subdivision (b)* is adapted from former Bankruptcy Rule 107. The administrative cost of installments in excess of four is disproportionate to the benefits conferred. Prolonging the period beyond 180 days after the commencement of the case causes undesirable delays in administration. Paragraph (2) accordingly continues the imposition of a maximum of four on the number of installments and retains the maximum period of installment payments allowable on an original application at 120 days. Only in extraordinary cases should it be necessary to give an applicant an extension beyond the four months. The requirement of paragraph (3) that filing fees be paid in full before the debtor may pay an attorney for services in connection with the case codifies the rule declared in *In re Latham*, 271 Fed. 538 (N.D.N.Y. 1921), and *In re Darr*, 232 Fed. 415 (N.D. Cal. 1916).
Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules—1987 Amendment
*Subdivision (b)(3)* is expanded to prohibit payments by the debtor or the chapter 13 trustee not only to attorneys but to any person who renders services to the debtor in connection with the case.
Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules—1996 Amendment
The Judicial Conference prescribes miscellaneous fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1930(b). In 1992, a $30 miscellaneous administrative fee was prescribed for all chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases. The Judicial Conference fee schedule was amended in 1993 to provide that an individual debtor may pay this fee in installments.
*Subdivision (a)* of this rule is amended to clarify that every petition must be accompanied by any fee prescribed under 28 U.S.C. §1930(b) that is required to be paid when a petition is filed, as well as the filing fee prescribed by 28 U.S.C. §1930(a). By defining "filing fee" to include Judicial Conference fees, the procedures set forth in subdivision (b) for paying the filing fee in installments will also apply with respect to any Judicial Conference fee required to be paid at the commencement of the case.
*GAP Report on Rule 1006*. No changes since publication, except for a stylistic change in subdivision (a).
Committee Notes on Rules—2008 Amendment
Subdivision (a) is amended to include a reference to new subdivision (c), which deals with fee waivers under 28 U.S.C. §1930(f), which was added in 2005.
Subdivision (b)(1) is amended to delete the sentence requiring a disclosure that the debtor has not paid an attorney or other person in connection with the case. Inability to pay the filing fee in installments is one of the requirements for a fee waiver under the 2005 revisions to 28 U.S.C. §1930(f). If the attorney payment prohibition were retained, payment of an attorney's fee would render many debtors ineligible for installment payments and thus enhance their eligibility for the fee waiver. The deletion of this prohibition from the rule, which was not statutorily required, ensures that debtors who have the financial ability to pay the fee in installments will do so rather than request a waiver.
Subdivision (b)(3) is amended in conformance with the changes to subdivision (b)(1) to reflect the 2005 amendments. The change is meant to clarify that subdivision (b)(3) refers to payments made after the debtor has filed the bankruptcy case and after the debtor has received permission to pay the fee in installments. Otherwise, the subdivision may conflict with the intent and effect of the amendments to subdivision (b)(1).
*Changes Made After Publication*. No changes were made after publication.
Committee Notes on Rules—2017 Amendment
Subdivision (b)(1) is amended to clarify that an individual debtor's voluntary petition, accompanied by an application to pay the filing fee in installments, must be accepted for filing, even if the court requires the initial installment to be paid at the time the petition is filed and the debtor fails to make that payment. Because the debtor's bankruptcy case is commenced upon the filing of the petition, dismissal of the case due to the debtor's failure to make the initial or a subsequent installment payment is governed by Rule 1017(b)(1).
Committee Notes on Rules—2024 Amendment
The language of Rule 1006 has been amended as part of the general restyling of the Bankruptcy Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. These changes are intended to be stylistic only.
<sup>1</sup> So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.
Guides that rely on Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006
Plain-language explanations on this site that cite this rule.
By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022
Last reviewed July 27, 2026 · Sources verified July 27, 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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