Open Bankruptcy Project
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 is a structured-payment-plan bankruptcy that allows individual debtors
to keep property, cure secured-debt arrearages, and pay unsecured creditors over 3-5 years. This
educational reference covers plan structure under § 1322, confirmation requirements under § 1325,
plan modification, plan completion, and § 1328 discharge framework.
Empirical answers
41.0%
Chapter 13 discharge rate across 98,114 cases analyzed. Plan-completion-and-discharge is the outcome for fewer than half of filings. Source:
Outcomes & Duration v0.1.
37.1%
Chapter 13 dismissal rate. Comparable to the discharge rate — Chapter 13 is essentially a coin flip on outcome. Most dismissals come from plan-payment defaults.
~4.7 years
Median time from filing to discharge when the plan completes (1,728 days). Reflects standard 5-year plan duration with administrative wrap-up.
What Chapter 13 does
Chapter 13 differs fundamentally from Chapter 7:
- No liquidation — the debtor keeps property; trustee doesn't sell anything
- Plan payments from disposable income for 3-5 years
- Discharge at plan completion — remaining unsecured debt is then discharged
- Cure secured-debt arrearages — mortgage and car-loan back-payments can be brought current through the plan
- Strip junior liens on real property where there's no equity to support them
Eligibility
Chapter 13 is for individuals with regular income and within debt limits:
- Individual debtor only — corporations and partnerships cannot file Ch.13
- Regular income — sufficient and stable enough to fund a plan
- Debt limits under § 109(e): currently approximately $1,257,850 (secured) and $419,275 (unsecured) per the most recent COLA
Above-debt-limit individuals must use Chapter 11 or Subchapter V instead.
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