This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for bankruptcy in Michigan, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a bankruptcy in Michigan costs on average $3,600, typically $2,550-$5,100 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $175 to $320 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 3-5 years to resolve. Common related costs include chapter 13 filing fee ($313) and credit counseling course ($25-$50).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $950 | $1,450 | $2,400 | 3-4 months |
| Moderate | $2,550 | $3,600 | $5,100 | 3-5 years |
| Complex | $2,900 | $4,850 | $7,700 | 3-5 years |
Last verified: June 2026
$175 – $320/ hour
Median: $250/hr
3-5 years
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>Bankruptcy cost formation splits along the two most common filing types. Chapter 7 (liquidation) is a shorter federal process, so attorney fees are usually charged as a flat fee covering the whole case. Chapter 13 (repayment plan) requires the attorney to stay involved for the full 3-5 year repayment period, so the fee is higher and is often split into an upfront portion plus ongoing amounts paid through the repayment plan itself.
On top of the attorney fee, every filer pays a federal court filing fee (set by statute, the same nationwide regardless of state) plus mandatory credit counseling and debtor education course fees. Case complexity within either chapter — multiple creditors, contested exemptions, business assets, or a means-test dispute — adds attorney hours beyond the base flat fee, which is why complex-case costs run well above the simple-case median shown on this page.
Take a moderate-complexity bankruptcy matter in Michigan. The recorded median total is $3,600, with reported quotes clustering between $2,550 and $5,100. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $363–$413, which leaves roughly $3,187–$3,237 of the Michigan median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. One further recorded fee is not itemised above and is not in that total.
At $3,600, the median bankruptcy cost in Michigan runs 3% above the $3,479 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Michigan carries 3 rows — simple, $950–$2,400 at $150–$270/hr over 3-4 months; moderate, $2,550–$5,100 at $175–$320/hr over 3-5 years; complex, $2,900–$7,700 at $200–$395/hr over 3-5 years — on 5 shared citations. They put it above the midpoint, short of the top quarter.
$3,600 is a median, not the middle of the band — $1,050 above the $2,550 floor, $1,500 under the $5,100 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 47.
Michigan is the 24th of 47 tracked states by median bankruptcy cost, and its $3,600 figure lands within a percent of the $3,600 midpoint of that table — the rank is meaningful, the distance is not.
Arizona ($3,600) and Oregon ($3,550) bracket Michigan inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 24th is close to arbitrary.
6 tracked states — Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Arizona among them — record a median within three percent of Michigan's $3,600. The figure sits in the densest part of the bankruptcy distribution, where a rank change of several rows costs only a few hundred dollars.
Rate and total sit 2 places apart — 26th of 47 at $250 an hour against 24th on the bankruptcy total — which is close enough to read as the same signal.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Michigan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | New Jersey | $3,800 | +$200 |
| 19 | Pennsylvania | $3,800 | +$200 |
| 20 | Alaska | $3,700 | +$100 |
| 21 | Colorado | $3,700 | +$100 |
| 22 | Delaware | $3,650 | +$50 |
| 23 | Arizona | $3,600 | −$0 |
| 24 | Michigan | $3,600 | — |
| 25 | Oregon | $3,550 | −$50 |
| 26 | Ohio | $3,500 | −$100 |
| 27 | Maine | $3,350 | −$250 |
| 28 | Utah | $3,350 | −$250 |
| 29 | Missouri | $3,300 | −$300 |
| 30 | Idaho | $3,200 | −$400 |
Within ten percent of the Michigan figure there are 10 states above and only 5 below. $0 up or $50 down moves Michigan a row, which means the ranking has far more room to improve than to slip: the bankruptcy field is dense overhead and sparse underneath.
Climbing five places would mean passing Pennsylvania, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Arizona and adding $200 to the $3,600 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Oregon, Ohio, Maine, Utah, Missouri: $300.
$800 short of Hawaii ($4,400), $1,250 clear of Kentucky ($2,350).
At $250 an hour, the $3,600 median represents about 14 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. That rounds to the same 14 hours as the peer median, so on workload Michigan is indistinguishable from the middle of the table at this precision.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex bankruptcy costs 3.3x a simple one in Michigan, but the implied workload only rises 2.3x — 7 hours at $200 becomes 16 hours at $295 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.48x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $2,550 to $5,100 the moderate band is $2,550 wide, close to the $2,550 peer median. End to end that is 10 hours at $250.
A third ordering: by implied hours Michigan is 20th of 47 at 14 hours, 4 places above its cost rank of 24th on cost — more work behind the same bankruptcy money.
41% up the $2,550–$5,100 band sits the $3,600 table midpoint, buying 14 hours at $250 against the 14 the local bankruptcy median implies — 0 hours apart.
| Measure | Michigan | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $3,600 | 24th |
| Hourly median | $250 | 26th |
| Implied hours | 14 | 20th |
| Simple median | $1,450 | 29th |
| Complex median | $4,850 | 26th |
$250 an hour puts Michigan between Maine ($250) and Nevada ($250) — not the bankruptcy cost pairing.
Maine, Nevada record the same $250: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$3,600 buys 18 hours at $200, 14 at $250, 12 at $295.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Wisconsin | $255 |
| 25 | Maine | $250 |
| 26 | Michigan | $250 |
| 27 | Nevada | $250 |
| 28 | Florida | $240 |
The ranking barely moves across tiers — 29th at the simple tier, 24th at moderate, 26th at complex of 47 — so Michigan keeps roughly the same relative position whether the bankruptcy is straightforward or contested.
$1,450 is 29th of 47 on a straightforward bankruptcy, under Idaho ($1,450) and over Florida ($1,400), $50 under the $1,500 tier midpoint.
$4,850 is 26th of 47 once contested, between Maine ($4,950) and Pennsylvania ($4,800), $250 off the $5,100 tier midpoint.
$150 separates the simple ceiling of $2,400 from the moderate floor of $2,550, so the first escalation is a clean break, while the moderate and complex bands overlap from $2,900 upward. The expensive end of a routine bankruptcy and the cheap end of a contested one are the same money in Michigan.
| Tier | Michigan | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,450 | 29th | $1,500 | 7 |
| moderate | $3,600 | 24th | $3,600 | 14 |
| complex | $4,850 | 26th | $5,100 | 16 |
$1,450 drops Michigan to 29th of 47 on straightforward matters, 5 below its moderate position and $50 (3%) under the $1,500 tier midpoint.
7 implied hours at $200: 50% of the moderate tier's 14, over 3-4 months.
Idaho ($1,450) and Florida ($1,400) bracket it — a $50 window.
1 states sit within three percent of the $1,450 here, against 6 at the moderate row.
$4,850 drops Michigan to 26th of 47 on contested matters, 2 below its moderate position and $250 (5%) under the $5,100 tier midpoint.
16 implied hours at $295: 114% of the moderate tier's 14, over 3-5 years.
Maine ($4,950) and Pennsylvania ($4,800) bracket it — a $150 window.
3 states sit within three percent of the $4,850 here, against 6 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Wisconsin | $1,500 |
| 28 | Idaho | $1,450 |
| 29 | Michigan | $1,450 |
| 30 | Florida | $1,400 |
| 31 | Wyoming | $1,350 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Florida | $5,100 |
| 25 | Maine | $4,950 |
| 26 | Michigan | $4,850 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $4,800 |
| 28 | Texas | $4,800 |
In Michigan a bankruptcy is 6th of 8 at $3,600, between Immigration and Real Estate Closing. At 35% of Criminal Defense ($10,400).
The state does not rank uniformly. Michigan is 16th of 47 for Personal Injury but 32nd for Estate Planning / Probate, a 16-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 24th on bankruptcy says little about what the other lines cost.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Divorce runs 12% above its own midpoint, while Estate Planning / Probate runs 11% below its own midpoint — 23 percentage points apart. A single "Michigan is expensive" or "Michigan is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
Michigan's practice areas fan out more than most: its largest tracked median is 5.6x its smallest, against 5.1x for the typical state. Prices here are set matter by matter rather than by one statewide level.
1 of 7 matter types rank Michigan in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 6 between; bankruptcy is 24th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 50th percentile of the 47 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,750 | $10,400 | $28,550 | 35 | 24th | +2% | Pennsylvania |
| Divorce | $3,250 | $9,600 | $19,900 | 33 | 18th | +12% | Illinois |
| DUI / DWI | $3,750 | $7,950 | $15,250 | 29 | 19th | +7% | California |
| Personal Injury | $1,600 | $5,100 | $15,200 | — | 16th | −2% | Georgia |
| Immigration | $2,000 | $4,750 | $10,950 | 18 | 25th | level | Arizona |
| Bankruptcy | $1,450 | $3,600 | $4,850 | 14 | 24th | level | Arizona |
| Real Estate Closing | $950 | $2,050 | $4,250 | 8 | — | −8% | — |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $1,850 | $5,650 | 7 | 32nd | −11% | Florida |
Simple tier. $1,450 ÷ $200 = about 7 hours, spread over 3-4 months at roughly $414 a month. The $2,150 step to the moderate tier is 7 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $3,600 to $4,850 is a $1,250 step weighted toward price: 2 more hours at $250 is $500, but $295 across 16 hours adds $720 — 59% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Oregon ($3,550) lands $50 under Michigan; from Arizona ($3,600), $0 over; from the $3,600 table midpoint, $0 out.
Contested against simple. At Michigan's own recorded figures, $4,850 buys 3.3 matters at the $1,450 simple median — or, counted in time, 16 implied hours against 7, a factor of 2.3 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Michigancourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.