Where will my Kansas bankruptcy case be filed?

Bankruptcy cases are filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which is a division of the Federal District Courts.

Your Attorney will file your case electronically.

Divorce, collection, probate and similar cases are filed in one of the 31 Kansas District Courts located sporadically throughout Kansas.

While the three Kansas Federal Courthouses, which contain the bankruptcy courts, are located in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita.

For illustration purposes:  a resident of Johnson County would file their divorce in Johnson County (under most circumstances).

Interesting until this month, it did not matter what KS county you were a resident of — you could be a resident of Johnson County and file your bankruptcy case in Kansas City, Topeka, or Wichita.  While many would likely pick Kansas City, KS in the past due to the need to attend the in-person 341 meeting, some would make the drive to another county for varied reasons. Since the Meetings have been conducted by phone since March 2020 perhaps more would make this choice.

However, beginning on January 1, 2022, cases filed under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 must be filed in:

  • Kansas City if the debtor’s residence or principal place of business is in Wyandotte or Johnson county
  • Topeka if the debtor’s residence or principal place of business is in Shawnee county
  • Wichita if the debtor’s residence or principal place of business is in Sedgwick or Butler county

This order will sunset after one year.

To file a bankruptcy case in Kansas, a debtor must have resided in Kansas the greater part of the 180 days prior to filing their case.  If a debtor has resided in Kansas for a little over three months, they can file their case in Kansas.  If a debtor has resided in Kansas less than three months, they will need to wait to file a bankruptcy case.  The greater than 180 days residency requirement is the same for all states.

A debtor residing in Kansas for the greater part of 180 days can file their case in Kansas; however, they will be unable to use Kansas bankruptcy exemptions.  A debtor must reside in Kansas for two years before being able to use the Kansas exemptions, this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which state’s exemptions would apply in the debtor’s situation.

Luckily you never have to go through any of this alone. We’ll be with you every step of the way.

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