Identification

• Each state has at least one federal Bankruptcy Court District. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware is located in Wilmington at 824 North Market Street. Excluding federal Holidays, the clerk's office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, except for the first Wednesday of the month, on which it opens at 9 a.m. To contact the clerk by phone, call (302) 252-2900. The court's official website is linked in the Additional Resources section below.
  
  

Means Test

• A bankruptcy debtor must have an annualized monthly income below the median annual income of their state for their household size to file for Chapter 7. The data used for the official comparison is published by the U.S. Census Bureau each year. In 2009 the median income for a single wage earner in Delaware was $46,187; for a family of two, $60,747; for three, $77,174; and for four, $79,006. For each additional member of the household in excess of four, the median income is calculated by adding $6,900.
  
  

Filing

• All bankruptcy documents in Delaware must be filed electronically through the court's Case Management/Electronic Case Filing System ("CM/ECF"), except in exceptional circumstances. The court prefers PDF format rather than scans. At the time of filing the petition, the voluntary bankruptcy debtor must also electronically submit the case matrix, which contains all the names and addresses of creditors. For more on filing in Delaware, see the Clerk's Instructions in the Additional Resources below.
  
  

Fees

• Filing fees are due at the time of filing a bankruptcy petition in Delaware. A Chapter 7 debtor can request a waiver using the official waiver form if the fees pose a significant hardship. Otherwise, the filing fee can be paid in installments, provided that at least 25 percent of the fee is paid at the time of filing. Since filing is done electronically, initial filing fees are made by credit card (American Express, Discover, Diner's Club, VISA and MasterCard). Subsequent filings that require a fee can be made by money order. The initial filing fee for Chapter 7 is $299, and for Chapter 13, $274 (these amounts are subject to change).
  
  

Exemptions

• Delaware does not allow bankruptcy debtors to use the federal exemptions. Under Delawares bankruptcy laws, an individual debtor may not exempt more than a total of $25,000, or $50,000 for a married couple. Within this limit, the exemption can be divided in various ways. The exemption can be entirely applied to a real property or a homestead, or divided amongst pensions, insurance benefits and proceeds, and public benefits (unemployment, worker's compensation). Personal property that can be included towards the exemption limit include books, family portraits, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, principal and income from spendthrift trusts, tools of trade necessary for employment (up to $15,000 each), and 85 percent of earned but unpaid wages.