How To File Bankruptcy for Free in Minnesota

Collect Your Minnesota Bankruptcy Documents

One of the first steps in filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy is gathering your financial documents. These give you the information you need to fill out your bankruptcy forms and help the court understand your income, expenses, and debts.

Some documents are required by the court or trustee, such as:

• Pay stubs from the past six months

• Tax returns from the last two years

• A bank statement that includes the date you file

🗂️ It’s also helpful to collect a few other documents while you’re getting organized. These aren’t required, but they can make it easier to complete your paperwork:

• Bank statements from the last 6–12 months

• Recent credit card or loan statements

• Bills or letters from debt collectors

• A recent credit report

📄 If you’re not sure you have all the information about the debts you owe, you can get a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com.

🛠️ If you use Upsolve’s free filing tool, we’ll pull your credit report for you to help make the process easier.

Take Credit Counseling Course

Before you can file your bankruptcy case, you’ll need to complete a credit counseling course. This course gives you an overview of your financial options and helps you decide if bankruptcy is the right path.

💡 Here’s what to keep in mind:

• The course must be taken within 180 days before you file your case.

• You can take it online, over the phone, or sometimes in person.

• It usually costs $10–$50, but many providers offer a fee waiver if you can’t afford to pay.

• The course provider must be approved for Minnesota. 

📄 When you finish, you’ll get a certificate of completion. You’ll need to file that certificate with your bankruptcy forms. If you don’t, the court can dismiss your case.

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

Everyone who files Chapter 7 fills out the same set of forms, no matter what state they live in. You can download them for free as fillable PDFs from USCourts.gov. 

👉 Some courts also require local forms, which we cover in the Minnesota Districts & Filing Requirements section later in this guide.

✨ If you use Upsolve’s filing tool, you won’t have to worry about figuring out the forms yourself. Just answer some simple questions online, and we’ll generate the right forms for your situation.

If you decide to work with a lawyer instead, they’ll usually ask you to complete a questionnaire. Then they’ll fill out the forms and file everything for you.

Get Your Filing Fee

Filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case costs $338, but many people don’t end up paying the full amount. If your income is below 150% of the federal poverty line, you can ask the court to waive the fee completely.

If you use Upsolve’s free filing tool, we’ll help you fill out the waiver request form.

💸 If you don’t qualify for a waiver, you can ask the court to let you pay in installments. This option can be helpful if you need to file quickly but don’t have the full amount right now. Once you file, a protection called the automatic stay goes into effect. That means most creditors have to pause things like wage garnishment, repossession, and collection calls.

⚠️ Just know that if you miss a payment, the court may dismiss your case, and you won’t get a refund.

Print Your Bankruptcy Forms

Once your bankruptcy forms are complete, it’s time to print them so you can file your case with the court. 

🖨️ Here’s how to get your forms court-ready:

• Use black ink only.

• Print on white, 8.5” x 11” letter-size paper.

• Print single-sided pages (the court won’t accept double-sided).

• Don’t staple, hole-punch, or bind the pages.

🖊️ Be sure to sign every page that asks for a signature.

🛠️ If you’re using Upsolve’s filing tool, you’ll get a ready-to-print packet with all the forms you need. We’ll flag every signature page and organize your forms so they’re easy to file.

File Your Forms With the Minnesota Bankruptcy Court

When your forms are ready, it’s time to officially open your case by filing them with the court. In Minnesota, people filing without a lawyer can either:

• Mail their forms to the clerk’s office, or

• Bring them in person to the courthouse that serves their county

Minnesota doesn’t allow people filing without a lawyer to file online, so you’ll need to choose between mailing or hand-delivering your forms.

🏛️ Many filers choose to go in person if they can. It’s usually faster, and the clerk can check your packet to make sure you haven’t missed anything — like a signature or a required form. 

If you can’t get to the court in person, it’s OK to send your forms in the mail. It’s best to use certified mail when possible so you can track your forms and ensure they’re delivered.

The best choice is the one that feels easiest and most doable for you.

Mail Documents to Your Trustee

After you file your case, the court will assign a Chapter 7 trustee. This is the person who double-checks your paperwork and makes sure everything in your case is complete and accurate. 

They’ll also look at your property to see if anything could be used to pay creditors — though in most cases, people don’t lose anything they own.

📬 You’ll need to send your trustee some documents at least two weeks before your 341 meeting (your official meeting with the trustee). Commonly requested items include:

• Your two most recent federal tax returns

• A bank statement that shows the date you filed your case

• A copy of your photo ID (driver’s license, state ID, or passport)

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

• A recent pay stub or other proof of income

📌 You’ll receive your trustee’s name and contact information in an official notice from the court shortly after you file.

🔎 Sometimes trustees ask for extra documents, like car titles, mortgage statements, or retirement account balances. If you get that request, it’s best to send the documents quickly to keep your case moving forward.

Take a Debtor Education Course

After you file, there’s one more course to complete before your debts can be wiped out. It’s called the debtor education course. The course covers practical money skills like budgeting, saving, and managing credit after bankruptcy.

This step is required for the court to issue your discharge — the order that officially erases your qualifying debts.

📝 Here’s what to know:

• You must complete the course within 60 days after your 341 meeting.

• You need to take it from a court-approved provider in Minnesota.

• You’ll receive a certificate at the end, which must be filed with the court to make sure you get your discharge.

🌱 The best part? You’ll come away with practical tools you can use to make the most of your fresh start.

Attend Your 341 Meeting

About a month after you file, you’ll attend a 341 meeting, also called the meeting of creditors. For most people, this is just a short conversation with the trustee. Creditors are allowed to come, but they almost never do.

The trustee’s job is to confirm your identity, go over your paperwork, and ask you a few questions under oath. The questions are usually simple, like whether the information in your forms is correct and whether you’ve listed all of your property. Many people are surprised by how quick and low-stress the meeting feels.

The meeting usually happens about 30 days after you file. Most meetings are now held online through Zoom.

✅ In most Chapter 7 cases, the meeting lasts only 5–10 minutes. From there, most people receive their discharge order within about 60 days.

Deal With Your Car

For many people in Minnesota, having a car is a necessity. You might need it to get to work, pick up your kids, run errands, or care for family. So it’s totally normal to worry about losing your car if you file for bankruptcy. The good news is that most people are able to keep their car.

Whether you can keep your car depends on how much it’s worth, whether you still owe money on it, and how Minnesota’s exemption laws apply to your case. Exemptions are legal protections that help you keep certain property when you file bankruptcy. 

Minnesota’s state exemptions let you protect up to $10,000 in vehicle equity. Equity is the car’s value minus any loan balance.

👉 You’ll find more details later in this guide under Minnesota Bankruptcy Exemptions, but here’s a quick look at your options:

🚗 If you own your car outright and its value is within the exemption limit, you’ll likely be able to keep it.

🚘 If you have a car loan, you have a few different paths:

• Reaffirm the loan: Many filers who are current on payments and want to keep their car sign a reaffirmation agreement. This means they agree to keep making the loan payments, even after filing bankruptcy.

• Redeem the car: You may be able to keep your car by paying what it’s worth in one payment. This is called redemption. It can be useful if you owe more on your car than it’s worth. But the downside is that it’s tough to come up with the lump-sum payment.

• Surrender the car: If the loan is too expensive or the car isn’t worth keeping, some people choose to return it to the lender. Then, the remaining loan balance gets wiped out as part of the bankruptcy.

🚗 Leasing works a little differently. You can either keep the lease and stay current on payments, or return the car and cancel the lease. You can read more in our Bankruptcy Guide to Car Leases.