The U.S. Courts reported **529,080 bankruptcy petitions** for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025. Chapter 7 filings were **320,571** and Chapter 13 filings were **199,130**. Those are national court statistics, not a count of estates that own property or a count of title problems.
What the numbers measure
The federal judiciary's 2025 caseload report counts petitions by chapter and describes changes from prior periods. A researcher can use it to establish the scale of federal bankruptcy activity and to justify checking whether a known debtor, business, or property appears in a federal case. It cannot prove that a particular estate is bankrupt, that a property belongs to a debtor, or that a filing creates authority to sell.
| Research question | Evidence needed |
|---|---|
| Was a case filed? | Court docket, case number, filing date, and district |
| Is a person the same person? | Name plus corroborating identifiers, not name alone |
| Is a parcel involved? | Petition schedules, claims, orders, and property records |
| Can property be transferred? | The governing court order and qualified professional review |
A source-log rule
Record the court, district, case number, chapter, retrieval date, and the exact document reviewed. A national total is context. The docket and filed documents are matter-level evidence. Do not replace a docket check with a national trend line.
Sources and limits
The source is the Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2025. Bankruptcy totals include territorial courts, and the report's period and definitions control. This article does not infer an estate-property rate from the national total.
Professional disclaimer: General research only, not legal, bankruptcy, tax, title, or fiduciary advice.