Before you can file, and before you can discharge your debts, you must complete two required courses. Here's what they are and why they matter.
Under current bankruptcy law, there are two required courses — one before filing and one before discharge.
Pre-Bankruptcy Credit Counseling
Must be completed within 180 days (6 months) before you file. You'll receive a certificate that must be included in your petition. Skip this step and your case will be dismissed.
Debtor Education Course
Must be completed after filing but before the court will discharge your debts. This is a longer course — usually 1 to 3 hours — focused on managing money after bankruptcy.
During your credit counseling session, a certified credit counselor helps you explore your options. The counselor is a qualified financial advisor who helps you decide whether bankruptcy is the right choice.
By law, the counselor must give impartial advice — they cannot steer you toward a specific financial decision.
Your session may be a simple phone call, or you may complete it online by submitting your information to a credit counseling agency. It typically takes 45 to 90 minutes.
When you're done, you'll receive a certificate of completion. That certificate is what makes you eligible to file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.
Most people think: "If I have financial problems, taking a course about credit should help me avoid them in the future." That's well-intentioned — but the reality is more complicated.
The pre-filing counseling requirement is often criticized as bureaucratic. There is no testing and no follow-up. There is no relationship between your case and the course content — a Ph.D. in economics with $2 million in debt takes exactly the same class as someone with $10,000 in debt.
The course is required by law. Whether it's useful is another matter. What matters is that you complete it and get the certificate — because without it, your case cannot proceed.
Before your debts can be discharged, you must attend a debtor education course. This is separate from the pre-filing counseling.
The purpose of this course is to help you better manage your finances after bankruptcy. It's designed to reduce the chance that you'll end up back in financial distress.
It takes more time to complete than the pre-filing counseling — usually 1 to 3 hours.
You will typically be required to pay for this course. Some U.S. Trustee offices may offer courses at their own offices for lower cost and greater convenience.
Budget for them as part of your filing costs.
The pre-filing course takes 45–90 minutes. The post-filing course takes 1–3 hours.
The pre-filing certificate must be filed with your petition. Keep a copy.
The course must be from an approved provider listed on the U.S. Courts website. Others don't count.
Filing without the certificate will get your case thrown out.
Call us for a list of approved providers in Florida.
We are a document preparation service. We help with the paperwork — not the counseling itself. But we can:
If you need legal advice about your case, consult a licensed attorney.
Call us. We'll walk you through the steps.