Last Updated on November 5, 2025 by Linda Davis
The air in my small office just off Coral Way gets heavy in the afternoons, not just from the humidity you can almost taste, but from the weight of the conversations. I remember a couple from Coconut Grove sitting right where you might be imagining, the relief on their faces so palpable when I explained that the relentless calls from creditors would stop. Immediately. That’s the first, most powerful tool we have here in Miami—the Automatic Stay. It’s like a forcefield, and for folks drowning in medical debt or a failed small business, it’s the first full breath they’ve taken in years.
Look, filing for bankruptcy in Miami isn’t like filing anywhere else. Our economy is a wild mix of tourism, real estate booms and busts, and a lot of folks living paycheck to paycheck in a city that’s famously expensive. I’ve been navigating the federal courthouse downtown for over a decade, and I’ve seen how the local judges interpret the code. It matters. You need someone who knows the terrain, not just the law.
What Bankruptcy Actually Feels Like in Miami
Honestly, most people walk in here thinking it’s the end of the road. A failure. To tell you the truth, it’s almost always the opposite—it’s the onramp back to a functional life. The shame they feel is real, but it’s usually misplaced. Life happens. A divorce tanks your finances. A hurricane season like the one we had a few years back wipes out your savings. You get sick and the medical bills pile up faster than the humidity on a July morning.
I had a client, a fisherman from Key Biscayne, who had a heart attack. The medical bills sank him. He was going to lose his boat, his livelihood. Chapter 13 let him restructure that debt, keep his boat, and get back on the water. That one felt good. We saved his way of life.
The Real Difference Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
This is where most folks get tripped up. Let me break it down like I would for a neighbor.
Chapter 7: The Fresh Start
We call this liquidation, but that sounds scarier than it is for most people. In a Chapter 7, a trustee is appointed to sell off your nonexempt assets to pay your creditors. But here’s the insider secret for Miami residents: Florida’s exemption laws are some of the most generous in the country.
Wait — actually, let me rephrase that more clearly. The Homestead Exemption is a big deal. It means your primary residence is protected. There’s no cap on the value. So, if you own your home in Miami, whether it’s a condo in Brickell or a house in Kendall, it’s likely fully protected. Your car, up to a certain value, is protected. Your basic household goods are protected. For the vast majority of my clients, they lose nothing. The trustee closes the case as a “noasset” case, and their unsecured debts—credit cards, medical bills, personal loans—are wiped away. Gone.
The whole process is relatively quick, usually about four to six months from filing to discharge.
Chapter 13: The Reorganization
This is for people who have a regular income but need to catch up. Think of it as a courtapproved debt consolidation plan. You propose a 3to5year plan to pay back a portion of your debts. This is the goto solution for a few key situations here in Miami:
- You’re behind on your mortgage and facing foreclosure. Chapter 13 stops the foreclosure and gives you up to five years to catch up on those missed payments.
- You have valuable nonexempt property that you want to keep—maybe a second car or an investment property—that wouldn’t be protected in a Chapter 7.
- You have debts that can’t be discharged in a Chapter 7, like recent taxes or domestic support obligations, and you need a structured way to pay them.
I’ve made the mistake myself early in my career of pushing a client toward a 7 when a 13 would have served them better. It’s a lesson I don’t forget. You have to look at the whole picture, not just the quickest exit.
The MiamiSpecific Hurdles You Need to Know
If you’re from Miami, you know our unique rhythm. And our unique challenges. The cost of living is high, and wages haven’t always kept up. A job loss in a oneincome household can be catastrophic down here. And our housing market? It’s its own beast. The truth is, the value of your home can be both your biggest asset and your biggest source of financial stress if you’re houserich but cashpoor.
Another local thing: the filing fees and attorney costs. They’re a real barrier for people who are already broke. The filing fee for a Chapter 7 is $338, and for a Chapter 13, it’s $313. Attorney fees for a straightforward Chapter 7 can range from $1,200 to $2,500 in the Miami area. For a more complex Chapter 13, you’re looking at $3,500 to $5,000 or more, often paid through the plan itself. It feels ironic, I know, that it costs money to declare you have no money. But it’s an investment in your future that pays for itself the moment those creditor calls stop.
Walking Through the Miami Bankruptcy Court Process
So, what actually happens? After we sit down and figure out the best path, we prepare your petition. We file it electronically with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. That’s the moment the Automatic Stay kicks in.
About a month later, you’ll have your 341 Meeting of Creditors. It sounds intimidating, but it’s usually a 10minute meeting in a room at the federal courthouse downtown. The trustee just verifies your identity and that the information in your petition is accurate. Creditors rarely even show up. Honestly, it’s the most anticlimactic, yet most relieving, part of the process for most people.
Long story short, for a Chapter 7, you get your discharge order a few months after that. For a Chapter 13, you just start making your plan payments and stick to the budget for the next few years.
Some Established Local Bankruptcy Attorneys in Miami
Based on actual local presence, here are some established providers in Miami. I know some of these folks from seeing them around the courthouse for years. It’s a small community.
Debt Relief Legal — Serving the downtown Miami area.
Van Horn Law Group — Located in Fort Lauderdale but serves the wider South Florida region, including Miami.
LeRich Law Firm P.A. — Based in Miami.
Frazier Law — A presence in the Miami legal community.
Verifying Credentials and Local Rules
This is critical. Anyone can hang a shingle. You need to make sure your attorney is in good standing. You can verify a lawyer’s license through the Florida Bar Association. And for general information on the process, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida has all the forms and local rules right on their site. It’s dry reading, but it’s the rulebook we all play by.
Answers to Common Questions About Bankruptcy in Miami
Will I lose my car?
Probably not. Florida’s motor vehicle exemption protects $1,000 in equity per vehicle. If you have a car loan, we can often reaffirm the debt and you just keep making payments. In a Chapter 13, you can even sometimes reduce the loan balance to the car’s actual value.
How long does it stay on my credit report?
A Chapter 7 can be on there for 10 years from the filing date, and a Chapter 13 for 7 years. But you know what’s funny? You can start rebuilding your credit almost immediately. I’ve had clients get approved for secured credit cards within months of their discharge. It’s not a life sentence.
Can I keep my credit cards?
Almost certainly not. And you shouldn’t want to. Those are the debts you’re trying to escape. They’ll be closed when you file. It’s part of the clean break.
What about my 401(k)?
Your retirement accounts are generally fully protected under federal law. I can’t think of a situation where I’ve seen someone lose their 401(k) or IRA in a bankruptcy here. So don’t raid it to try and avoid filing—you’ll just be turning protected money into cash that isn’t protected.
Anyway, if you’re in Miami and the bills are piling up faster than the storm clouds in August, start by having an honest conversation with a local attorney who knows the lay of the land. It’s confidential, and it might just be the first step toward that clear sky you’ve been hoping for.