How To File Bankruptcy for Free in Arkansas

Collect Your Arkansas Bankruptcy Documents

To get started with your case, you’ll need to gather some important documents. These will help you fill out your bankruptcy forms accurately and give the court a clear picture of your financial situation. Some documents are required, while others just make the process easier.

Here’s what you’ll need for the court or bankruptcy trustee:

• Tax returns from the last two years

• Paycheck stubs from the past 60 days

• A bank statement that covers your bankruptcy filing date

These extra documents aren’t required, but they can help you complete your forms and understand your finances:

• Bank statements from the past 12 months to help track your expenses

• Copies of bills from lenders and creditors

• Letters from collection agencies or debt collectors

• A copy of your recent credit report to help list your debts

💻 You can get a free credit report every week at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you use Upsolve’s filing tool, it pulls your report for you.

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

Now that you’ve gathered your financial documents, it’s time to fill out your bankruptcy forms. These forms are the same across the country, and you can download them for free as fillable PDFs from the U.S. Courts website. 

🏛️ Some courts also require local forms. We’ll cover those below in the Arkansas Districts & Filing Requirements section.

🛠️ If you use Upsolve’s filing tool, you won’t need to fill out the forms yourself. Instead, you’ll answer simple questions in a guided questionnaire, and the tool will generate all your required paperwork for free.

If you work with a bankruptcy lawyer, they’ll prepare and submit your forms for you.

Take the First Required Course (Credit Counseling Course)

Before you can file your bankruptcy case, you’ll need to take a credit counseling course from an approved provider. This course helps explain your debt relief options and gives you a better understanding of how bankruptcy works.

Here are some important things to know about this course:

• It usually takes 1–2 hours.

• Most people take the course online, by phone, or in person.

• It costs $10–$50, but many filers qualify for a fee waiver and can take the course for free.

• You must complete the course within 180 days before you file.

✅ After you finish the course, you’ll get a certificate. You must include it with your bankruptcy forms when you file, or the court may dismiss your case.

Get Your Filing Fee

There’s a $338 filing fee for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. But many people don’t have to pay it. If your income is below 150% of the federal poverty guideline, you can ask the court to waive the fee entirely.

🛠️ If you use Upsolve’s filing tool, it will prepare a fee waiver form for you. You’ll just need to file it with the court along with your other bankruptcy paperwork.

If you don’t qualify for a waiver and can’t afford the full fee right away, you can apply to pay the fee in installments. This can be helpful if you don’t have the full fee but need to file quickly to stop wage garnishment, foreclosure, or other collection efforts. As soon as you file, the automatic stay goes into effect. This is a powerful legal protection that stops almost all debt collection.

⚠️ Just keep in mind that if you miss an installment payment, the court may dismiss your case.

Print Your Bankruptcy Forms

After you’ve finished preparing your forms and figured out your filing fee, the next step is to print everything out for the court. In Arkansas, everyone who files without a lawyer needs to submit paper copies of their bankruptcy forms.

Follow this guidance when printing your forms:

• Use standard 8.5” x 11” white paper.

• Print in black ink.

• Print single-sided only.

• Don’t staple or hole-punch your pages.

• Sign every signature page before you file.

✨ If you’re using Upsolve’s filing tool, you’ll get a ready-to-print packet with everything you need. The packet also includes dividers flagging each place you need to sign.

If you don’t have access to a printer, many public libraries and office supply stores can print your forms for a small fee. It’s also a good idea to print a second copy for your records, if you can.

📋 For extra help staying organized, check out this Chapter 7 checklist.

File Your Forms With the Arkansas Bankruptcy Court

Once you’ve printed and signed your bankruptcy forms, you’re ready to file them with the court. This officially starts your case.

🏛️ In Arkansas, you can file your forms either in person or by mail. Online filing without a lawyer isn’t available right now. 

Many people choose to file in person because the court clerk can do a quick check to see if anything’s missing. That can help you avoid delays or extra trips later.

📍 If you're mailing your forms and payment, send them to the court in Little Rock, even if you live in another part of the state. If you're filing in person, you'll go to either Little Rock or Fayetteville, depending on which division you live in. We’ll explain that more in the Arkansas Districts & Filing Requirements section below.

Mail Documents to Your Trustee

After you file your forms, the court will assign a bankruptcy trustee to oversee your case. The trustee reviews your paperwork and ensures the process is fair for all involved.

Each trustee is different, but the U.S. Trustee’s office suggests giving the following to your trustee prior to your 341 meeting (which we’ll talk about more soon):

• Your two most recent federal tax returns

• A bank statement for any accounts you had open when you filed

• A copy of your photo ID (like a driver’s license or passport)

• Proof of your Social Security number (like a copy of your Social Security card, W-2, or a pay stub)

• Proof of your current income, like a recent pay stub

🗓️ Try to send these at least 14 days before your 341 meeting. If you don’t have something on the list, you can include a short note explaining why it’s unavailable.

📄 You’ll get your trustee’s name and contact information in an official court notice after you file. In most cases, your trustee will also send you a letter explaining who they are and what they need from you.

Take the Second Required Course (Financial Management/Debtor Education)

To get your debts officially discharged, you’ll need to take a second course after you file. This debtor education course teaches basic money management skills to help you rebuild after bankruptcy. 

Here’s what you need to know about it:

• It typically takes 1–2 hours to complete.

• You must take the course from a court-approved provider.

• You need to complete the course within 60 days of your 341 meeting.

• Once you finish, you’ll get a certificate of completion.

💡 Some providers will email your certificate and file it with the court for you. Sometimes you need to file it yourself. Either way, the court must receive your certificate. Otherwise, your case could be dismissed without your debts being wiped out.

Attend Your 341 Meeting

About a month after you file, you’ll attend a short meeting called the 341 meeting, or the meeting of creditors. It’s a standard part of the bankruptcy process where the trustee reviews your case and confirms the details in your paperwork.

Even though it’s called a meeting of creditors, most creditors don’t attend. Usually, it’s just you and the trustee.

📅 These meetings are held virtually by Zoom in most cases, but you can ask for a phone or in-person meeting instead. You’ll get the time, date, and login details in an official notice from the court.

At the start of the meeting, the trustee will check your identity. Be ready to show:

• A government-issued photo ID (like a driver’s license or passport)

• Proof of your Social Security number (such as your Social Security card, a W-2, or a pay stub with your full SSN)

The trustee will then ask you a few questions about your finances. These are straightforward, and they’re based on the forms you already filed. Just answer honestly.

The whole meeting usually takes 10–15 minutes. Once it’s done, you’ll be one step closer to getting your debts discharged. 

🎥 Watch this mock 341 meeting video to get a feel for what to expect.

Deal With Your Car

In Arkansas, having a car is often essential for getting to work, school, or the store. So it’s understandable to feel nervous about what might happen to your vehicle if you file for bankruptcy. The good news is that many people are able to keep their car.

What happens to your car depends on three main things:

• How much your car is worth

• Whether you own it outright, have a loan, or lease it

• What exemptions you can claim ($1,200 under Arkansas law or $5,025 under federal law)

🚗 We’ll explain Arkansas’s property exemptions later, but here’s the big picture: If your car’s value (or equity) is less than the exemption amount, you can usually keep it.

If you’re still paying off a car loan, you have a few options:

• Reaffirm the loan: You keep the car and keep making regular payments. Some lenders require a reaffirmation agreement. Filers who are current on their car loan and want to keep the car often choose this option.

• Redeem the car: Redemption means you pay the car’s current value in one lump sum and wipe out the rest of the loan. This can help if your car is worth much less than what you owe. It’s less common than reaffirmation because you have to come up with a lump sum, which is difficult for many fields.

• Surrender the car: Surrendering means you give the car back and erase the loan. Some filers who are behind on payments or just don’t find the car worth keeping choose to use this option and start fresh.

✅ If you own your car outright, you can keep it if the current market value is less than the exemption you’re claiming for it.

🚗 If you’re leasing a vehicle, read our guide to car leases in bankruptcy to explore your options.