Small Dividends and Payments in Chapter 13 Cases

Under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3010(b), the trustee in a chapter 13 case may make payments of less than $15.00. [Effective April 15, 1997. Amended effective January 1, 2002; January 9, 2006; September 3, 2025.] 2025 Advisory Committee Notes The amendments to Local Rule 3010-1 are stylistic only; no substantive changes were intended. 24 Rule 3011-1. Unclaimed Funds Any deposit from a trustee under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3011 and 11 U.S.C. § 347(a) that exceeds $500.00 must be accompanied by a statement from the trustee using the form provided by the clerk.

The statement must briefly describe the efforts made to locate the creditor or debtor. [Effective April 15, 1997. Amended effective January 1, 2002; September 3, 2025.] 2025 Advisory Committee Notes Local Rule 3011-1 was restyled and amended to change the procedure for depositing unclaimed funds with the court. The title of the rule was amended to change “dividends” to “funds” to reflect the language used in Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3011. Subsection (a) was removed as it was previously abrogated.

Because subsection (a) was removed, the subsection (b) designation was also removed. The rule now requires the trustee to file a statement on a form provided by the clerk if the amount of the deposit exceeds $500.00. The statement must describe the efforts made to locate the creditor or debtor. According to the Handbooks for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Trustees maintained by the U.S. Trustee Program, the trustee must make a reasonable effort to locate creditors who do not promptly cash their checks or whose checks are returned as undeliverable.

See also 28 U.S.C. § 586. Rule 3012-1. [ABROGATED] [Effective April 1, 2013. Amended effective December 1, 2017; May 1, 2019; October 1, 2019. Abrogated effective September 3, 2025.] 2025 Advisory Committee Notes Local Rule 3012-1 was abrogated to ensure consistency with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3012(b)(1) and 5009(d).

Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3012(b)(1) allows a debtor to request a determination of the amount of a secured claim by motion, in a claim objection, or in a plan. It also allows a debtor to request a determination of priority status by motion or in a claim objection. While no longer required, when making a request under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3012(b)(1), the information listed in abrogated subsection (a) may still be helpful to the court including, the name of the creditor holding the claim, the appraised value of the property, the address and legal description of the property, the name of each entity holding a lien on the property, copies of all recorded lien instruments, and an abstract or Owners and Encumbrance Report. As to abrogated subsection (b), parties should refer to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5009(d) when requesting an order declaring a lien satisfied and released.

When making a request under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5009(d), the information listed in abrogated subsection (b) may still be helpful to the court including, the date of confirmation of the debtor’s plan, the legal description of the property, the date the debtor completed payments under the plan, copies of all recorded lien instruments, and an abstract or Owners and Encumbrance Report. Because Local Rule 3012-1 was abrogated, Local Form 3012-1(b) was also abrogated.