How To File Bankruptcy for Free in Tennessee Without a Lawyer

Collect Your Tennessee Bankruptcy Documents

There are many documents you’ll need to collect before you file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee. These documents will help you fill out the information in the forms you need to file bankruptcy. There will be many forms with several detailed questions about your personal financial situation. 

Generally, everyone filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee will need to provide:

• Tax returns from the last two years,

• Paycheck stubs from the last 60 days, and

• A recent bank statement.

There are many documents that you’ll need for reference, including:

• Bank statements from the last 6-12 months,

• Creditor statements,

• Bills and debt collection letters, and

• A recent credit report. 

These documents will help you create a detailed list of all of the debt you owe, your income, and your expenses. Make sure you collect all your bills for medical debt and credit card debt. You’ll also need the contact information for each of your creditors, and this is where the credit reports come in handy. You can request a free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus once a year. Once you have your reports, you can compare your bills and collection agency letters to the information on your credit report. This is helpful if you can’t remember everyone you owe money to. 

If you have a mortgage or car loan, be sure to collect your mortgage and car loan documents, including the vehicle titles to your motor vehicles. If you owe child support or alimony, a copy of your court order will help you fill out your documents. 

Take a Credit Counseling Course

Under the bankruptcy laws for Chapter 7, all filers have to take a credit counseling course before filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. The purpose is to make sure that you’re aware of your debt relief options. Most agencies offer online or phone options to complete these courses. Some also haver an in person option.

You need to complete the course 180 days before you file your bankruptcy case, and you have to take it from an authorized provider. The course will cost money, but you can apply for a fee waiver to take the course for free. You’ll also need to take a second debtor education course after you file bankruptcy, and some credit counseling agencies offer both courses for one fee. 

You won’t be stuck for the whole day in class, the course usually only takes an hour or two. When you’re done with the course, you’ll get a certificate of completion. You need to file the certificate with the rest of your documents when you file for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case at the bankruptcy court. 

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

To file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee, you’ll need to fill out more than 20 federal forms. These forms are the same for everyone across the United States because the forms are from the federal court system. If you want to prepare the forms yourself without an attorney, you can download the federal forms from USCOURTS.gov as fillable PDFs. You may also need to fill out some local bankruptcy forms, depending on your district and the specifics of your case. We’ll talk about this more later.

If you hire an attorney, the attorney will prepare the forms for you, though you’ll likely fill out a questionnaire first. If you’re using the Upsolve online tool to file bankruptcy in Tennessee, you’ll fill out a questionnaire, and the Upsolve software will generate your bankruptcy forms. You’ll get a complete PDF file with all of the forms filled out based on your answers in the questionnaire. 

Get Your Filing Fee

The court filing fee for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee is $338. If you earn less than 150% of the federal poverty guidelines you can apply for a fee waiver. To see if you qualify, look at the Tennessee Fee Waiver Eligibility table below. To qualify for a fee waiver in Tennessee, you need to have income below the guidelines and be unable to pay the fee in installment payments. 

If you make too much to qualify for a fee waiver, but you can’t pay the fee all at once, you can either save up to pay the fee or apply to pay your filing fee in four installments. The court gets to choose whether to approve each installment plan, but most are granted. You’ll need to pay at least $85 as your first installment at the time you file your case. An installment plan is a good option if you’re facing foreclosure, wage garnishment, or other serious debt collection. When you file your bankruptcy documents with the court, you get the protection of an automatic stay. This stops collection activity. 

If you don’t have an emergency, it’s safer to pay the full filing fee when you file your bankruptcy documents to start your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. That’s because, if you’re approved for an installment plan and then miss a payment, your case can be dismissed and creditors can resume collection activity. 

Print Your Bankruptcy Forms

Courts can be picky about documents. When you print the required forms to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in Tennessee, you need to follow a certain format. Print the forms:

• On white, standard letter-sized paper (8 ½” x 11”),

• In black ink only,

• With fonts no smaller than 10 point, and

• On one side of the page only.

Review your printer settings before you print. There are a lot of forms to print! If you don’t have a printer at home, you can print your documents at a local library, office supply store, or UPS store. After you print your forms, don’t staple them together.

You should also review your forms to make sure all the spaces are filled in. If not, you can write on your forms after they’re printed. Write “none” or “not applicable” in the blanks for things that don’t apply to you. 

Finally, make sure you sign your forms. Local rules in the Eastern District and Middle District require filers to include their address, phone number, and email beneath each signature. You may want to use blue ink to sign your forms so you can tell the original from the black and white copy. After you sign your forms, make a copy of everything for your records. You might need to refer to these later in the bankruptcy process. 

If you use Upsolve’s filing tool, you’ll receive your forms combined in one PDF packet. Upsolve will flag the signature pages for you. If you use a bankruptcy attorney, you won’t have to worry about printing bankruptcy forms to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee.

File Your Forms with the Tennessee Bankruptcy Court

In Tennessee, you must file your bankruptcy documents by mail or in person. Only attorneys can file electronically. You can call the court clerk to see if another person can drop off the forms for you, but it’s best to go in person in case you’re missing a signature or there’s a simple technical error you can fix. 

When you go to the bankruptcy court to file your case, you must have your filing fee or application for a waiver or installment payments, your bankruptcy documents, and a list of all of your creditors. If you don’t bring all of these, your petition to file bankruptcy can be rejected, and you won’t be able to file. As soon as your case is time-stamped the protection of the automatic stay goes into effect, and creditors will not be able to harass or contact you directly.

Mail Documents to Your Trustee

Once you file your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, the court will assign a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee to oversee your case. The name and contact information for the trustee will be on your notice of bankruptcy. The notice of bankruptcy will have the date of your meeting of creditors and should arrive two weeks before the meeting. Your Chapter 7 trustee will want to see copies of some of your financial documents as they review your case. 

At a minimum, you must provide the trustee with the following, no later than seven days before your 341 meeting (more on this soon):

• A bank statement that includes your filing date, and

• Your most recent two federal income tax returns.

Your trustee may send you a notice by mail asking for these and other documents. They may also ask you to provide:

• Documentation of expenses

• Proof of investment accounts

• Deeds for real property like your home

• Mortgage statements

• Car titles

• Proof of insurance

• Your recent pay stubs (or a Statement of Payment Advices if you don’t have pay stubs) 

• Recent divorce decrees or child support orders

If you don’t give the trustee the documents they request, your case can be dismissed and you won’t have your debt discharged through bankruptcy. 

Take a Debtor Education Course

Before you can get your bankruptcy discharge, you must take a second debtor education course that covers financial management skills from an approved provider. Similar to the credit counseling course, this will last only 1-2 hours. Most providers offer courses online or over the phone.

You can take this course any time after you file your case, but no later than 60 days after your 341 meeting. As with the credit counseling course, you’ll receive a certificate of completion when you finish the course. You must file your certificate with the court within this 60-day timeframe or your case can be dismissed without a discharge. Some providers will file the certificate for you. Once your certificate is filed, you’re one step closer to discharge! 

Attend Your 341 Meeting

Your 341 meeting — often called the creditors’ meeting or meeting of creditors — is a mandatory meeting with the trustee, though your creditors are also invited. The 341 meeting is named after the section of the Bankruptcy Code, which is the federal law that requires it. These meetings are usually short, and creditors often don’t attend. If you have no assets or money to pay a creditor, there’s rarely a reason for them to attend. 

The hearing will be set 20–40 days from your petition filing date. You should receive your notice of bankruptcy by mail with the hearing date listed within 15 days of filing your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee. If you elected to receive court notices via email, you’ll receive the notice of bankruptcy in your email. If you don’t receive the notice in that time period, you should reach out to the court clerk right away to find out when your meeting is scheduled. 

When you meet the trustee, you must bring:

• Your driver’s license (or other picture identification issued by a governmental unit) or other personally identifying information that establishes your identity, and 

• Evidence of your Social Security number or a written statement that such documentation doesn’t exist. 

During the meeting, the trustee will ask you questions based on the documents you filed to verify that the information is true and accurate. You’ll be put under oath. Everything you say will be under penalty of perjury, so keep your answers honest and short.

Many people get nervous about the creditors’ meeting, but you can relieve some of that stress by learning more about the process. This 341 meeting preparation video goes over some of the questions you’ll be asked.

Once your 341 meeting is over, you can relax and congratulate yourself for getting this far in the bankruptcy process! 

Deal With Your Car

Many people filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Tennessee have concerns about what will happen to their car when they file. Your options will depend on whether you owe money on your car and whether your payments are current. But the good news is that you have options.

• If you’re paying on a car loan and you’re up to date with your payments, you can likely sign a reaffirmation agreement with your lender. This is a new agreement where you promise to keep making payments. If you miss a payment, though, your car could still get repossessed.

• If you like your car but you owe more than the car is worth, you might be able to buy your car for its value through a process called redemption. You’ll have to pay a lump sum for the car if you use the redemption option, but the remainder of the loan will be discharged and you’ll own the car outright.

• If you're behind on payments, can't catch up, and your car is at risk of repossession, you can voluntarily surrender your car and get the remaining amount you owe on the loan discharged. This might help you get a fresh start. You can choose to surrender your car even if you’re not behind on the payments. You might choose this option if you’re stuck in a loan with very high interest or unaffordable payments or if you owe more than the car is worth.

If you own your car, you might be able to use a bankruptcy exemption to protect it during the bankruptcy process. In Tennessee, you can protect $10,000 of personal property, including your car. We talk more about exemptions below.

If you have a car lease when you file a Chapter 7 case, you can choose to keep the lease if you’re current with your payments, or you can drop it and return the car. If you’re behind on your payments, or if the car has high mileage or damage, you’ll save money by turning in the car. Since a car lease isn’t a secured debt, if you choose to drop the lease, you can get the remaining amount owed on the lease discharged along with your other unsecured debts.