How To File Bankruptcy for Free in New Hampshire

Collect Your New Hampshire Bankruptcy Documents

Filing bankruptcy in New Hampshire involves a lot of paperwork. To prepare to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire, you’ll first need to collect certain documents. You'll need these documents as you go through the process. Start by:

• Getting a free copy of your credit report — ideally one from each of the three credit reporting agencies. If you file using Upsolve’s free filing tool, it will pull your credit report for you.

• Gathering all the bills or collection notices you’ve received in the last 90 days. These documents will help ensure you're properly disclosing all of your debts. 

You'll also need:

• Your two most recent federal income tax returns. 

• The paycheck stubs you've received in the 60 days before filing bankruptcy. 

• Bank statements for all of your bank accounts, including a statement that covers the date of your bankruptcy filing (you’ll have to to wait until after filing to get that).

You’ll need these documents even if you file with an attorney. It can also be very helpful to have up to the last year of bank statements to figure out your expenses. As you go through your files to gather these items, pull anything else that you think might help you prepare your case, such as a recent divorce decree, your homeowners' insurance, a copy of your vehicle title, retirement account statements, and similar documents.

Take a Credit Counseling Course

Before you can file your New Hampshire bankruptcy case, you have to complete a credit counseling course. You can take the course at any time in the 180 days before filing your case. Several companies have been approved in the state of New Hampshire to offer the class online or by phone. 

The course ensures that everyone who’s filing bankruptcy is aware of all their debt relief options. There is a small cost to take the course, but it shouldn’t be more than $50. If your income is below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, you can apply for a waiver, so you don’t have to pay the fee.

When you finish the course, you’ll receive a certificate of completion. You should send a copy of the certificate to the bankruptcy court with the rest of your documents so the court knows you’ve met this requirement.

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

Anyone filing Chapter 7 must fill out several bankruptcy forms and submit them to the court. The forms are the same no matter where you live. There are several different forms, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court provides a full list of the documents you'll need for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire.

All of the forms are available for free online as fillable PDFs from USCOURTS.gov. You can also download a comprehensive instruction manual. If all of this sounds a little intimidating, and you don't think you can afford to hire a lawyer, see if you're eligible to use Upsolve’s free filing tool. If you use Upsolve's tool, you’ll complete a questionnaire, and our software will generate the forms based on the information you provide.

If you're working with either a lawyer, you'll still have to gather the required information, but you won’t have to worry about filling out the paperwork. At a bankruptcy law firm, the lawyer or legal staff will use the information you provide to fill out the forms. 

As you go through this process, take your time and be as diligent and thorough as possible. Everyone filing bankruptcy in New Hampshire has to sign these forms under penalty of perjury and omitting information can cause serious complications.

Get Your Filing Fee

It costs $338 to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in any U.S. Bankruptcy Court. If you make less than 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, you may be eligible to apply for a fee waiver. Even then, it's up to the court to decide whether to waive the fee or have you pay it in installments. 

If you aren't eligible to have the filing fee waived, it's best to plan on paying it in full when you go to court to file your case. The court accepts payments in the form of cash, money order, or cashier's check. The court won’t accept personal checks or credit cards from people who file without a lawyer. This is called filing “pro se”. If you're paying by money order or cashier's check, it should be made payable to "Clerk, U.S. Bankruptcy Court." 

If you have to file before you can pay the full filing fee, you can ask the court for permission to pay the fee in installments after you file your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire. This can be especially helpful if a creditor is garnishing your wages. The garnishment has to stop because of the automatic stay once you file your bankruptcy case with the court. This means you’ll start receiving your full paycheck again. 

If you aren't getting garnished or facing other serious collection efforts like foreclosure, it’s best to take the time to collect the fee in full beforehand. Otherwise, if you're unable to make all the payments timely, you risk having your bankruptcy case thrown out of court.

Print Your Bankruptcy Forms

At this time, only lawyers filing bankruptcy on behalf of their clients can file electronically in New Hampshire. If you don’t have a lawyer, you’ll have to submit the original signed hardcopy of your bankruptcy forms to the court. 

If you're working with Upsolve, you'll receive a single PDF packet to print. Luckily, that makes this part of the process as easy as finding a printer. Print all your documents on regular 8.5" x 11" white paper. This is the typical paper used in a home or office printer. Make sure you print everything single-sided in black ink. Do not staple your packet together.

If you've completed all the forms on your own and you have them saved on your computer as several different files, make sure to give yourself enough time for this step. All the forms needed for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy look similar. This makes it very easy to get confused. Double and triple-check the Chapter 7 checklist to make sure you have everything.

After printing, sign each document in the correct spot. Upsolve’s downloadable packet flags each signature line to make this easier. Go through each line to make sure your signature is everywhere it needs to be, otherwise you may have to resubmit your papers.

Finally, although the court only needs a single copy of your signed forms, you’ll have to bring a full set of signed forms to your 341 meeting after you file your case. So many people choose to print a second set and keep it in a safe place. Alternatively, if you have access to a copy machine, you can sign everything on one set, then make a photocopy.

File Your Forms With the New Hampshire Bankruptcy Court

If you're filing bankruptcy without a lawyer, you won’t be able to file online. This means you’ll have to get hard copies to the Bankruptcy Court in Concord.

Although it's possible to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire by mailing everything to the court, it can be a bit stressful to rely on the mail system. Instead, if you can, visit the courthouse in person to hand everything in. Although you can have someone else drop off the papers, it’s better if you go to make sure the court has everything to assign a case number. Without it, there is no automatic stay, which is what stops all collection efforts.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire is located in Concord and is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays. Since the end of the day tends to be the busiest, try not to arrive right before 4:30 p.m. Make sure you know the courthouse rules before you go so you aren't surprised by the security checkpoint at the building entrance.

If you can’t make it to the court during business hours, you can also submit everything through the court's dropbox. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully so the court records the date of your bankruptcy on the date that you dropped everything off. If you’re facing collection efforts such as a bank account levy, it’s important to make sure your case is filed by a certain date.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the bankruptcy court is temporarily accepting filings in a different manner. You can check the court’s website for the latest information.

Mail Documents to Your Trustee

After you file your Chapter 7 case, a bankruptcy trustee will be assigned to administer the case. It's the trustee's job to make sure that you're complying with all federal and New Hampshire bankruptcy laws and procedures. The trustee is entitled to a copy of your two most recent federal income tax returns and a bank statement that covers the date you filed your bankruptcy case. It's your job to submit this information to them no less than seven days before your 341 meeting. 

All trustees operate independently, and each has a different process for administering their cases. You'll find out who the trustee handling your case is when you receive an official notice from the court shortly after filing Chapter 7 in New Hampshire. The trustee assigned to your case may send you a letter asking you to submit other information or documentation to their office before your 341 meeting.

You need to cooperate with your trustee, so keep an eye out for any such requests and submit everything they ask for promptly.

Take a Debtor Education Course

In addition to taking a credit counseling class before filing bankruptcy in New Hampshire, you have to take a financial management course after you file your case with the court. If you don’t complete this requirement the court won’t enter a discharge in your case. There are many state-approved providers, so you can choose the option that works best for you.

You must complete the course within 60 days after your 341 meeting. If you don’t, the court can close your case without entering the discharge. A lot of people take the course before the 341 meeting. That way, when they’re done with the meeting, they know they have completed the requirements for filing Chapter 7 in New Hampshire. 

Once you're done, make sure you file your certificate of course completion with the court. This lets the bankruptcy judge know that you're now eligible to have your discharge entered when the time comes. 

Attend Your 341 Meeting

Your 341 meeting — also known as a "creditors' meeting" or “meeting of creditors” — will take place 20–40 days after you file your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire. Even though it's called a creditors' meeting, it's rare for creditors to attend or participate in the meeting. 

Instead, it typically involves the person filing bankruptcy in New Hampshire and the trustee assigned to their case. The meetings are relatively short, averaging 5–10 minutes per case. So the court schedules several meetings for the same 30-minute time slot on any given day. This means you'll see what it’s like for other folks who filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire when you attend your meeting. 

It’s unlikely anything will go wrong at this meeting. But the trustee has to verify everyone's identity before conducting the meeting, so make sure you bring a valid government-issued picture ID and acceptable proof of your Social Security number. Finally, bring a signed copy of your bankruptcy forms to the meeting so the trustee can use them while questioning you.

As a COVID-19 safety measure, all 341 meetings are being held by phone or video conference right now. This hasn’t been adopted as a standard practice, so keep an eye on your mail so you know what to expect and how to attend your meeting.

After the 341 meeting is over and you submit your debtor education certificate, you’re done. You should receive your discharge within 2-3 months.

Dealing with Your Car

If you’re waiting to file bankruptcy in New Hampshire because you’re worried about losing your car, you might want to reconsider. The good news is that Chapter 7 bankruptcy gives you several options for dealing with your car.

If your car is paid off and its current market value is less than $4,000, you can keep it under New Hampshire’s exemption law. 

If you're still paying on a car loan when you file your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in New Hampshire, you can choose how you want to deal with it. If your current loan payment works for your budget and the loan balance isn’t a lot higher than the car’s value, you can keep everything the same by entering into a reaffirmation agreement with your lender. Similarly, if you're leasing the car and are current on the lease payments, you may be able to keep the car if you continue paying each month.

On the other hand, if you're struggling with the monthly payment or the car is in bad shape, filing bankruptcy in New Hampshire gives you the opportunity to surrender the vehicle and discharge the balance of the loan. If you like the car, but you owe more on the loan than the car’s worth, you can redeem the vehicle by paying the creditor the current value of your car in a lump sum after filing Chapter 7 in New Hampshire. If you redeem the vehicle, the rest of the loan will be discharged in bankruptcy.

If you’re planning on buying a car, it may actually be easier to wait until after your bankruptcy is discharged because your credit score may go up after the bankruptcy is over.