The following changes to the bankruptcy rules, forms and miscellaneous fees will become effective on December 1, 2023:
- Amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 3011, 8003, 9006, and new Rule 9038.
Rule 3011 Unclaimed Funds in Chapter 7 Liquidation, Chapter 12 Family Farmer’s Debt Adjustment, and Chapter 13 Individual’s Debt Adjustment Cases. The amendment redesignates the existing text of Rule 3011 as subdivision (a) and adds a new subdivision (b) that requires the clerk of court to provide searchable access on the court’s website to data about funds deposited pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 347 for unclaimed property.
Rule 8003 Appeal as of Right – How Taken; Docketing the Appeal. The amendments to Rule 8003 conform to amendments recently made to FRAP 3, which clarified that the designation of a particular interlocutory order in a notice of appeal does not prevent the appellate court from reviewing all orders that merged into the judgment or appealable order or decree.
Rule 8003(a)(3)(B) is amended to avoid the misconception that it is necessary or appropriate to identify each order of the bankruptcy court that the appellant may wish to challenge on appeal. It merely requires the attachment of “the judgment—or the appealable order or decree—from which the appeal is taken,” and the phrase “or part thereof” is deleted. Subdivision (a)(4) now calls attention to the merger principle without attempting to codify the principle. It states in part that the notice of appeal “encompasses all orders that, for purposes of appeal, merge into the identified judgment or appealable order or decree.” Subdivision (a)(5) is added to make clear that the notice of appeal encompasses the final judgment if the notice identifies either an order that adjudicates all remaining claims and the rights and liabilities of all remaining parties or a post-judgment order described in Rule 8002(b)(1). Subdivision (a)(6) is added to enable deliberate limitations of the notice of appeal. Subdivision (a)(7) is added to provide that an appeal must not be dismissed for failure to properly identify the judgment or appealable order or decree if the notice of appeal was filed after entry of the judgment or appealable order or decree and identifies an order that merged into the judgment, order, or decree from which the appeal is taken.
Rule 9006 Computing and Extending Time; Time for Motion Papers. The amendments to Rule 9006(a)(6)(A) insert the words “Juneteenth National Independence Day” immediately following the words “Memorial Day.”
New Rule 9038 Bankruptcy Rules Emergency. This Rule allows extensions of time limits in the Bankruptcy Rules to be granted if the Judicial Conference declared a bankruptcy rules emergency.
Rule 9038(c) is basically an expansion of existing Bankruptcy Rule 9006(b), which authorizes an individual bankruptcy judge to enlarge time periods for cause. During the COVID pandemic, many courts relied on this provision to grant extensions of time. The existing rule, however, does not fully meet the needs of an emergency situation. First, it has some exceptions―time limits that cannot be expanded. One of these is the time limit for holding meetings of creditors, a limitation that either caused problems for courts during the current emergency or was honored in the breach. Also, it may not authorize an extension order applicable to all cases in a district. Rule 9038 is intended to fill in these gaps for situations in which the Judicial Conference declares a rules emergency. The chief bankruptcy judge can grant a district-wide extension for any time periods specified in the rules, and individual judges can do the same in specific cases.
These rules changes, as well as the changes to Appellate Rules 2, 4, 26, and 45, and Civil Rules 6, 15, 72, and new rule 87, can be viewed on the Pending Rules and Forms Amendments page of the United States Courts website. The Congressional Package dated April 2023 contains blackline versions of the Rules and Committee Notes for a quick reference of the changes.
- Changes to the Official Forms
- Official Form 410A, Proof of Claim Attachment
- Official Form 417A, Notice of Appeal and Statement of Election
Changes to the official forms may be viewed at https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/pending-rules-and-forms-amendments/pending-and-recent-changes-bankruptcy-forms.
- Changes to Other Bankruptcy Forms
- Form 1340, Application for Payment of Unclaimed Funds has been updated on the Court’s website.
- Miscellaneous Fee Changes
Several bankruptcy miscellaneous fee changes are scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2023. The changes can be found CLICK HERE. A revised bankruptcy fee schedule will be posted to the Court’s website on December 1, 2023.