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If you’re thinking about filing for bankruptcy in California, you’re probably wondering what it will cost. The answer can differ based on your location. As of April 2026, over 27,500 people—including more than 2,000 in California—have used Ascend’s free calculator to estimate their all-in bankruptcy costs by zip code. It’s designed to bring together attorney fees and filing expenses using real data from attorney disclosures.
The cost to file bankruptcy in California is $338 for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and $313 for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy based on the US bankruptcy court fee schedule. That said, are you going to hire an attorney? Are you going to apply for a fee waiver?
In 2026, we found that the Chapter 7 attorney fee range can cost between $862 - $2162, but the free bankruptcy cost calculator below should be able to estimate based on your exact city in California. We got this information by spending approximately $1,000 on PACER, a public records database that contains bankruptcy attorney fees.
A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is often less expensive than a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. As stated above, Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorneys in California can cost between $862 - $2162. The cost may increase or decrease based on the following factors:
The bankruptcy lawyer's cost is often based on the following attributes:
Here are some cost ranges in major cities in California.
Los Angeles is the most populated city in California with a population of 3,997,984. Bankruptcy attorneys in Los Angeles can cost an estimated $1,500.
Bankruptcy attorneys in San Diego can cost an estimated $1,500.
Bankruptcy attorneys in San Jose can cost an estimated $2,000.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys fees in California can cost $3300 - $4800. The fee may vary by district.
While Chapter 7 attorney fees vary, many Chapter 13 fees are relatively similar, based on no-look fees, a reasonable cost for the service provided. You may still want to see whether the attorney charges an hourly rate for any additional work after filing the Chapter 13
Bankruptcy filing costs are pretty similar across the United States, not just California. Here are the other costs to consider.
The US Courthouse has a fee schedule and a bankruptcy form that provides the filing fee.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing fee is $338 ($245 filing fee $78 administrative fee + $15 trustee surcharge).
The Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing fee is $313 ($235 filing fee + $78 administrative fee).
| # of People | 150% Poverty Guideline |
|---|---|
| 1 | $15,060 |
| 2 | $20,440 |
| 3 | $25,820 |
| 4 | $31,200 |
| 5 | $36,580 |
| 6 | $41,960 |
| 7 | $47,340 |
| 8 | $52,720 |
| 9 | $58,100 |
| * Add $5,380 for each individual in excess of 9. | |
When you file bankruptcy, you have to take an approved credit counseling course in California and a debtor education course. You can often take both courses online. The average cost may be around $10 to $50 per course. Please note that the courses must be approved, so here is the list of approved California credit counseling courses and California debtor education courses, which should also include the cost of the course.
You may have to pay for transportation to the meeting of creditors at the courthouse, but most 341 meetings of creditors are still online, even after COVID. You may also have to pay for a credit report for your attorney (though they may be able to help you with it).
You can estimate the cost of transportation to one of the bankruptcy courts below:
Let’s cover whether inflation may affect the filing fee and the attorney costs in California.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing fee was updated from $335 to $338, and the Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing fee was updated from $310 to $313, effective December 1st, 2020. Based on the very slight change, I would not expect the filing fee to negatively impact you.
You may see some inflation in attorney fee costs as inflation may force bankruptcy attorneys to pay more to employees and face higher costs of living themselves in cities such as San Diego or San Jose or across California.
You may live in a suburb in California and wonder if you should hire a local attorney or an attorney in a bigger city like San Diego to save on bankruptcy costs.
As Los Angeles has the highest population in California of 3,997,984, you may expect that the cost of bankruptcy attorney fees may be higher in Los Angeles than San Jose.
While the cost may be higher in Los Angeles, there may also be more bankruptcy attorneys, increasing competition, and dropping prices. So, you actually could find that the total cost to file bankruptcy, including bankruptcy fees, could be actually much higher in your city than in Los Angeles.
One thing to keep in mind is that most bankruptcy attorneys offer free bankruptcy consultations, so you can get multiple perspectives. Also, our bankruptcy cost calculator below takes into consideration those variables when providing you with an all-in cost estimate.
You may compare prices from two different bankruptcy attorneys in San Diego, and find that attorney costs vary between two attorneys.
The Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys often charge the same amount regardless in San Jose due to the no-look fee (a normal fee for the services provided). That said, the Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney fee can vary greatly, so it's important to understand what you are getting for the additional cost.
For example, let’s say you make $10,000 above the median income for California and still want to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The attorney may then have to spend additional time looking over your expenses to see whether you would qualify for a Chapter 7, even though you are above the median. Additional attorney time generally means a higher overall bankruptcy cost.
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