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 Utah, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a bankruptcy in Utah costs on average $3,350, typically $2,400-$4,800 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $185 to $340 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 | $1,150 | $1,700 | $2,800 | 3-4 months |
| Moderate | $2,400 | $3,350 | $4,800 | 3-5 years |
| Complex | $3,300 | $5,450 | $8,700 | 3-5 years |
Last verified: June 2026
$185 – $340/ hour
Median: $260/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 Utah. The recorded median total is $3,350, with reported quotes clustering between $2,400 and $4,800. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $363–$413, which leaves roughly $2,937–$2,987 of the Utah 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 $3,350, the median bankruptcy cost in Utah runs 4% below the $3,479 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Utah carries 3 rows — simple, $1,150–$2,800 at $155–$285/hr over 3-4 months; moderate, $2,400–$4,800 at $185–$340/hr over 3-5 years; complex, $3,300–$8,700 at $210–$415/hr over 3-5 years — on 5 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$3,350 is a median, not the middle of the band — $950 above the $2,400 floor, $1,450 under the $4,800 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 47.
Utah occupies the 28th row of 47 for a bankruptcy. Its $3,350 median trails the $3,600 table midpoint by $250, which is 7% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
Maine ($3,350) and Missouri ($3,300) bracket Utah inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 28th is close to arbitrary.
Maine, Missouri record medians within three percent of Utah's $3,350. A bankruptcy quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
The two rankings disagree sharply. Utah attorneys sit 22nd of 47 on hourly rate at $260 an hour, but the state is only 28th on total bankruptcy cost — the recorded matters resolve in fewer billed hours than the rate alone would produce.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Utah |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Delaware | $3,650 | +$300 |
| 23 | Arizona | $3,600 | +$250 |
| 24 | Michigan | $3,600 | +$250 |
| 25 | Oregon | $3,550 | +$200 |
| 26 | Ohio | $3,500 | +$150 |
| 27 | Maine | $3,350 | −$0 |
| 28 | Utah | $3,350 | — |
| 29 | Missouri | $3,300 | −$50 |
| 30 | Idaho | $3,200 | −$150 |
| 31 | Florida | $3,150 | −$200 |
| 32 | North Carolina | $3,150 | −$200 |
| 33 | Georgia | $3,100 | −$250 |
| 34 | Indiana | $3,100 | −$250 |
The rows within ten percent are lopsided: 8 below Utah against 5 above. $0 up or $50 down moves Utah a row, so a downward revision would cost the state far more places than an equivalent upward one would gain — the 28th position is propped up by a thin bankruptcy field above it and a crowded one beneath.
Climbing five places would mean passing Arizona, Michigan, Oregon, Ohio, Maine and adding $250 to the $3,350 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Missouri, Idaho, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia: $250.
$1,050 short of Hawaii ($4,400), $1,000 clear of Kentucky ($2,350).
At $260 an hour, the $3,350 median represents about 13 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. The peer median is 14 hours: Utah reaches its total in 1 fewer implied hours, because the rate rather than the workload carries more of it.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex bankruptcy costs 3.2x a simple one in Utah, but the implied workload only rises 2.1x — 8 hours at $210 becomes 17 hours at $315 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.5x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $2,400 to $4,800 the moderate band is $2,400 wide, close to the $2,550 peer median. End to end that is 9 hours at $260.
By implied hours Utah falls to 43rd of 47 at 13 hours, 15 places below its 28th on cost — the bankruptcy total arriving on less recorded work.
50% up the $2,400–$4,800 band sits the $3,600 table midpoint, buying 14 hours at $260 against the 13 the local bankruptcy median implies — 1 hour apart.
| Measure | Utah | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $3,350 | 28th |
| Hourly median | $260 | 22nd |
| Implied hours | 13 | 43rd |
| Simple median | $1,700 | 9th |
| Complex median | $5,450 | 19th |
$260 an hour puts Utah between Texas ($260) and Arizona ($255) — not the bankruptcy cost pairing.
Pennsylvania, Texas record the same $260: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$3,350 buys 16 hours at $210, 13 at $260, 11 at $315.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Pennsylvania | $260 |
| 21 | Texas | $260 |
| 22 | Utah | $260 |
| 23 | Arizona | $255 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $255 |
The tiers rank Utah very differently. It is 9th at the simple tier, 28th at moderate, 19th at complex of 47 — a fall of 10 places as the matter becomes harder. The state is expensive to start a bankruptcy in and comparatively ordinary to finish one in.
$1,700 is 9th of 47 on a straightforward bankruptcy, under New Jersey ($1,700) and over Washington ($1,700), $200 over the $1,500 tier midpoint.
$5,450 is 19th of 47 once contested, between District of Columbia ($5,450) and Wisconsin ($5,350), $350 off the $5,100 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in Utah: the simple tier reaches $2,800 where the moderate tier starts at $2,400, and the moderate tier reaches $4,800 where the complex tier starts at $3,300. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | Utah | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,700 | 9th | $1,500 | 8 |
| moderate | $3,350 | 28th | $3,600 | 13 |
| complex | $5,450 | 19th | $5,100 | 17 |
$1,700 puts Utah 9th of 47 on straightforward matters, 19 up on its moderate position, and $200 (13%) over the $1,500 tier midpoint.
8 implied hours at $210: 62% of the moderate tier's 13, over 3-4 months.
New Jersey ($1,700) and Washington ($1,700) bracket it — a $0 window.
14 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $1,700, denser than the 2 around the moderate row.
$5,450 puts Utah 19th of 47 on contested matters, 9 up on its moderate position, and $350 (7%) over the $5,100 tier midpoint.
17 implied hours at $315: 131% of the moderate tier's 13, over 3-5 years.
District of Columbia ($5,450) and Wisconsin ($5,350) bracket it — a $100 window.
5 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $5,450, denser than the 2 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Maryland | $1,700 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $1,700 |
| 9 | Utah | $1,700 |
| 10 | Washington | $1,700 |
| 11 | Arizona | $1,650 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Illinois | $5,500 |
| 18 | District of Columbia | $5,450 |
| 19 | Utah | $5,450 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | $5,350 |
| 21 | Arizona | $5,200 |
In Utah a bankruptcy is 6th of 8 at $3,350, between Personal Injury and Real Estate Closing. At 29% of Criminal Defense ($11,400).
The state does not rank uniformly. Utah is 11th of 47 for Criminal Defense but 28th for Bankruptcy, a 17-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 28th on bankruptcy says little about what the other lines cost.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Immigration runs 18% above its own midpoint, while Bankruptcy runs 7% below its own midpoint — 25 percentage points apart. A single "Utah is expensive" or "Utah is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
The largest tracked median in Utah is 5.4x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
3 of 8 matter types rank Utah in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 5 between; bankruptcy is 28th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 41th percentile of the 47 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,950 | $11,400 | $30,800 | 36 | 11th | +12% | Washington |
| Divorce | $3,200 | $9,500 | $22,900 | 30 | 19th | +11% | Michigan |
| DUI / DWI | $3,300 | $7,750 | $18,600 | 27 | 23rd | +4% | Texas |
| Immigration | $2,050 | $5,600 | $10,700 | 20 | 14th | +18% | Massachusetts |
| Personal Injury | $1,650 | $4,950 | $16,700 | — | 18th | −5% | Pennsylvania |
| Bankruptcy | $1,700 | $3,350 | $5,450 | 13 | 28th | −7% | Maine |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,150 | $2,400 | $5,050 | 9 | 17th | +8% | Delaware |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $2,100 | $5,750 | 7 | 22nd | +1% | Nevada |
Simple tier. $1,700 ÷ $210 = about 8 hours, spread over 3-4 months at roughly $486 a month. The $1,650 step to the moderate tier is 5 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $3,350 to $5,450 is a $2,100 step weighted toward price: 4 more hours at $260 is $1,040, but $315 across 17 hours adds $935 — 47% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Missouri ($3,300) is $50 light, Maine ($3,350) is $0 heavy — but the $3,600 table midpoint is out by $250, 5x the neighbour error.
Contested against simple. At Utah's own recorded figures, $5,450 buys 3.2 matters at the $1,700 simple median — or, counted in time, 17 implied hours against 8, a factor of 2.1 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Utahcourt'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.