Bankruptcy figures are easy to get wrong. Federal amounts adjust every three years, many states index their own amounts on different dates, the income limits for the means test are updated by the US Trustee Program, and old figures keep circulating long after they change. A wrong exemption amount can mislead someone about their home or car. This page sets out where our rules and figures come from, how amounts in force are dated, why some state rows say “not confirmed”, how often everything is rechecked, and where our limits are.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Bankruptcy law and exemption amounts vary by state and change. Ask a bankruptcy lawyer, legal aid or the court about your situation.
Where rules and figures come from
We go to the source that makes the rule, and link it at the claim:
- The Bankruptcy Code: Title 11 of the US Code, read in the official text at uscode.house.gov or govinfo, together with the filing fee sections of Title 28.
- The Federal Register: the notices that adjust the Code’s dollar amounts, such as 90 FR 8941, which sets the amounts for cases filed on or after 1 April 2025.
- The US Trustee Program: the means testing page for the median family income table and the IRS expense standards used in bankruptcy, and the program’s lists of approved credit counselling agencies and debtor education providers.
- The courts: the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the official forms on uscourts.gov, the bankruptcy court fee schedule, and notices posted by individual bankruptcy courts. Forms are linked on uscourts.gov, never copied or hosted here.
- State law: each state’s exemption and garnishment statutes in the legislature’s own text, and the state’s official adjustment notice where its amounts are indexed.
- Other federal sources: the IRS, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Labor, HHS for the poverty guidelines, and the housing agencies’ own guides, each named at the claim.
- Law firm, legal publisher and commercial pages: never a source for a rule, an amount, an example or a statistic. An unofficial copy of a statute can point us to the official text, but it never carries a figure on a page.
How a rule gets on the page
Each rule and amount is sorted by how directly it was read, and that decides how we word it:
- Read in the official text: the statute, the Federal Register, the official rules, or an official court or agency page. We state it plainly and give the citation and the date we read it. Before a writer uses a rule, the whole section is read again, not just the sentence that matched a search, because exceptions often sit further down.
- Read only in part, or only in an unofficial copy or a summary. It is not stated as a flat rule, and its amounts do not go on the page. If a page has to mention it, it says what we could and could not confirm.
- Not read. It stays off the page, or the page says “not confirmed” and links that state’s official code.
Why some state rows say “not confirmed”
Our state tables cover all 50 states and DC, but we only fill in a row once we have read it in that state’s official text. Some legislature websites block automated access or don’t load, some states publish their adjusted amounts only in notices we have not found, and in some states the answer to a question, such as whether filers may choose the federal list, depends on a section we have not yet read. In those cases the row says “not confirmed” and links the state’s code, rather than borrowing a figure from a law firm or a form site.
“Not confirmed” says nothing about what the rule is. It means we have not read it in a source we would stand behind. When we can’t find a law on a point, such as a law opting a state out of the federal list, we say “we found no law opting out” rather than “there is none”, because an absence in the sections we read is not a statute.
How amounts in force are dated
An amount is only right for cases filed in a certain period, so we give the period, not just the number:
- Federal amounts. The Code adjusts its dollar amounts every three years on 1 April (11 U.S.C. 104). The current amounts apply to cases filed on or after 1 April 2025 (90 FR 8941); the next adjustment is due on 1 April 2028. Pages say both.
- Indexed state amounts. Where a state indexes its exemptions, we give the amount in force, the period it covers, the statute and the notice, and sometimes the statute’s base figure beside it so the code doesn’t look like a contradiction. Ohio’s statute prints a homestead figure of $125,000; the amount for cases filed from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028 is $182,625 (Ohio Rev. Code 2329.66; Southern District of Ohio notice, read 7 November 2026). If we have not read an official adjusted figure, we say “not confirmed” rather than work one out ourselves, unless the statute’s formula is clear, and then we show the arithmetic and label it “our calculation”.
- Changes with a start date. Illinois raised its homestead exemption from $15,000 to $50,000 (with co-owners sharing up to $100,000) under a law in effect from 1 January 2026 (735 ILCS 5/12-901, read 7 November 2026). Pages give the amount “for cases filed on or after” the date the official text supports, and say what applied before where it matters.
- The means test. The US Trustee Program’s median income table and the IRS expense standards used on the forms change on their own schedule. As of 7 November 2026, the medians apply to cases filed on or after 1 April 2026 and the IRS standards to cases filed on or after 15 July 2026. Our means test pages and calculator show those dates.
- A read date on every state row. In text, tables and graphics, each state amount carries its statute and the day we read it, and each page ends with the date its sources were checked.
How calculators work
Our calculators show sums, not outcomes. They do arithmetic on numbers you enter and on the tables and rules they name, show each step and say “estimate” on every result. The means test calculator says whether the income entered is above or below the median in force and what the form’s arithmetic gives; it never says you qualify. The exemptions tool shows each state’s rules with their dates; it never says what you will keep. The Chapter 13 calculator estimates a payment from your figures, not what a court will confirm. The tool for filing again shows the statute’s arithmetic between the dates you enter, beside the rules that can change it; the court decides.
Each formula is tested against answers worked by hand before the calculator goes live. Every default that is a rate or a rule says where it comes from and when we read it, or that it is our assumption, and you can change it.
How pages are checked
After a page is written, a separate fact-check compares each amount, fee, limit, date, form and rule with its source, and reworks every sum on the page. A final review looks for errors, gaps and anything that could mislead a reader about their property, a deadline or a court step. A page with a serious problem still open does not go out.
How often rules are rechecked
- The median income table and IRS standards: whenever the US Trustee Program updates them, and before each means test page is published or revised.
- State rows (exemptions, federal choice, wage protections): each 1 January, 1 April and 1 July, when many states’ changes and adjustments take effect, and again after each state’s legislative session.
- Federal dollar amounts: on 1 April 2028, the next three-year adjustment.
- Court rules, official forms and laws with a known start date: when the date arrives.
- Everything else: at least every six months, and sooner when we learn a source has changed.
A page shows an updated date only when its content really changed. Between rechecks a law can change without our knowing, which is why each state amount shows the day we read it.
What is an assumption
Where we work something out ourselves, we say so. Arithmetic is shown step by step. A total built from confirmed parts is labelled as our arithmetic. A date counted from a statute is labelled as our count. A conclusion a source does not state is labelled as ours. There is no national public dataset of bankruptcy lawyers’ fees, so no page gives an average or typical fee.
How we treat claims seen elsewhere
Claims from firms and sellers are reported as claims, never as fact, and we don’t name a firm when we question one. Some lines you may see, checked as of 7 November 2026:
- “The filing fee is $335” or “the administrative fee is $75.” Out of date. Under the court fee schedule effective 1 December 2023, a Chapter 7 case costs $338 ($245 filing fee, $78 administrative fee and a $15 trustee surcharge) and a Chapter 13 case $313 ($235 plus $78). The totals are our arithmetic from those parts. See what it costs to file.
- “The federal homestead exemption is $27,900.” That was the amount before 1 April 2025. For cases filed on or after that date it is $31,575 (90 FR 8941). See the federal exemptions.
- “Student loans can never be discharged.” Not as a rule. The Code allows a discharge where repaying would impose an undue hardship, decided in a separate court proceeding (11 U.S.C. 523(a)(8)). See student loans in bankruptcy.
- “Taxes can’t be discharged in bankruptcy.” Not as a rule. Some income taxes can be, depending on timing rules in 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(1) and 507(a)(8). See tax debt in bankruptcy.
- “You’ll lose everything in Chapter 7.” Not as a general statement. What a filer can protect depends on the exemptions that apply, which vary by state. See exemptions by state.
Our limits
Some sources can’t be read in full, because they block access, only load in certain browsers or have not been posted. As of 7 November 2026 we have not read official text of the exemption laws of Arkansas, Indiana or Wisconsin, and some rows for other states, such as whether filers may choose the federal list, are not yet confirmed. Those rows say so. We read statutes, court rules, official notices and the court pages a row depends on, not every local rule or court decision. No check catches everything, so please tell us if you find a mistake. Fixes are logged on our corrections page, and our editorial policy covers the rest of how pages are made.
Before you rely on a rule or an amount here, check it with the court, or ask a bankruptcy lawyer or legal aid. If a foreclosure sale, a garnishment or a court deadline is close, don’t wait for a recheck of ours.
Sources on this page checked on 7 November 2026.