11 USC 521 - Debtor’s duties

1 So in original. A closing parenthesis probably should precede the comma.

Historical and Revision Notes

legislative statements

Section 521 of the House amendment modifies a comparable provision contained in the House bill and Senate amendment. The Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure should provide where the list of creditors is to be filed. In addition, the debtor is required to attend the hearing on discharge under section 524(d).

senate report no. 95–989

This section lists three duties of the debtor in a bankruptcy case. The Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure will specify the means of carrying out these duties. The first duty is to file with the court a list of creditors and, unless the court orders otherwise, a schedule of assets and liabilities and a statement of his financial affairs. Second, the debtor is required to cooperate with the trustee as necessary to enable the trustee to perform the trustee’s duties. Finally, the debtor must surrender to the trustee all property of the estate, and any recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers, relating to property of the estate. This phrase “recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers,” has been used here and throughout the bill as a more general term, and includes such other forms of recorded information as  data  in  computer  storage  or  in  other  machine readable forms.

The list in this section is not exhaustive of the debtor’s duties. Others are listed elsewhere in proposed title 11, such as in section 343, which requires the debtor to submit to examination, or in the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, as continued by § 404(a) of S. 2266, such as the duty to attend any hearing on discharge, Rule 402(2).

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, referred to in subsec. (a)(7), is classified to section 1002 of Title 29, Labor.

Sections 530(span)(1), 529A(span), and 529(span)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in subsec. (c), are classified to sections 530(span)(1), 529A(span), and 529(span)(1), respectively, of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.

Section 315(c) of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, referred to in subsec. (g)(2), is section 315(c) of Puspan. L. 109–8, which is set out as a note under this section.

Amendments

2014—Subsec. (c). Puspan. L. 113–295 inserted “, an interest in an account in a qualified ABLE program (as defined in section 529A(span) of such Code,” after “Internal Revenue Code of 1986)”.

2010—Subsec. (a)(2). Puspan. L. 111–327, § 2(a)(16)(A)(iii), in subpar. (C) substituted “except that” for subpar. (C) designation.

Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Puspan. L. 111–327, § 2(a)(16)(A)(i), struck out “the debtor shall” after “period fixes,” and inserted “and” after semicolon at end.

Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Puspan. L. 111–327, § 2(a)(16)(A)(ii), struck out “the debtor shall” after “period fixes,” and “and” after semicolon at end.

Subsec. (a)(3), (4). Puspan. L. 111–327, § 2(a)(16)(B), inserted “is” after “auditor”.

2009—Subsec. (e)(3)(B). Puspan. L. 111–16, § 2(5), substituted “7 days” for “5 days”.

Subsec. (i)(2). Puspan. L. 111–16, § 2(6), substituted “7 days” for “5 days”.

2005—Puspan. L. 109–8, § 106(d)(1), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a).

Subsec. (a). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 304(1), added concluding provisions.

Subsec. (a)(1). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 315(span)(1), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: “file a list of creditors, and unless the court orders otherwise, a schedule of assets and liabilities, a schedule of current income and current expenditures, and a statement of the debtor’s financial affairs;”.

Subsec. (a)(2). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 305(2)(A), struck out “consumer” before “debts” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 305(2)(B), substituted “30 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors under section 341(a)” for “forty-five days after the filing of a notice of intent under this section” and “30-day” for “forty-five day”.

Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 305(2)(C), inserted “, except as provided in section 362(h)” before semicolon.

Subsec. (a)(3), (4). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 603(c), inserted “or an auditor serving under section 586(f) of title 28” after “serving in the case”.

Subsec. (a)(6). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 304(1), added par. (6).

Subsec. (a)(7). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 446(a), added par. (7).

Subsec. (span). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 106(d)(2), added subsec. (span).

Subsec. (c). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 225(span), added subsec. (c).

Subsec. (d). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 305(2)(D), added subsec. (d).

Subsecs. (e) to (h). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 315(span)(2), added subsecs. (e) to (h).

Subsec. (i). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 316, added subsec. (i).

Subsec. (j). Puspan. L. 109–8, § 720, added subsec. (j).

1986—Par. (4). Puspan. L. 99–554 inserted “, whether or not immunity is granted under section 344 of this title” after second reference to “estate”.

1984—Par. (1). Puspan. L. 98–353, § 305(2), inserted “a schedule of current income and current expenditures,” after “liabilities,”.

Pars. (2) to (5). Puspan. L. 98–353, § 305(1), (3), added par. (2), redesignated former pars. (2) to (4) as (3) to (5), respectively.

Puspan. L. 98–353, § 452, which directed the insertion of “, whether or not immunity is granted under section 344 of this title” after second reference to “estate” in par. (3) as redesignated above, could not be executed because such reference appeared in par. (4) rather than in par. (3).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2014 Amendment

Puspan. L. 113–295, div. B, title I, § 104(d), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 4064, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [amending this section and sections 541 and 707 of this title] shall apply with respect to cases commenced under title 11, United States Code, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 19, 2014].”

Effective Date of 2009 Amendment

Amendment by Puspan. L. 111–16 effective Dec. 1, 2009, see section 7 of Puspan. L. 111–16, set out as a note under section 109 of this title.

Effective Date of 2005 Amendment

Puspan. L. 109–8, title VI, § 603(e), Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 123, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [amending this section, section 727 of this title and section 586 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 586 of Title 28] shall take effect 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Apr. 20, 2005].”

Amendment by sections 106(d), 225(span), 304(1), 305(2), 315(span), 316, 446(a), and 720 of Puspan. L. 109–8 effective 180 days after Apr. 20, 2005, and not applicable with respect to cases commenced under this title before such effective date, except as otherwise provided, see section 1501 of Puspan. L. 109–8, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date of 1986 Amendment

Amendment by Puspan. L. 99–554 effective 30 days after Oct. 27, 1986, see section 302(a) of Puspan. L. 99–554, set out as a note under section 581 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

Amendment by Puspan. L. 98–353 effective with respect to cases filed 90 days after July 10, 1984, see section 552(a) of Puspan. L. 98–353, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Confidentiality of Tax Information

Puspan. L. 109–8, title III, § 315(c), Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 91, provided that:

“(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Apr. 20, 2005], the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall establish procedures for safeguarding the confidentiality of any tax information required to be provided under this section.

“(2) The procedures under paragraph (1) shall include restrictions on creditor access to tax information that is required to be provided under this section.

“(3) Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall prepare and submit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a report that—

“(A) assesses the effectiveness of the procedures established under paragraph (1); and

“(B) if appropriate, includes proposed legislation to—

“(i) further protect the confidentiality of tax information; and

“(ii) provide penalties for the improper use by any person of the tax information required to be provided under this section.”

Providing Requested Tax Documents to the Court

Puspan. L. 109–8, title XII, § 1228, Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 200, provided that:

“(a)Chapter 7 Cases.—The court shall not grant a discharge in the case of an individual who is a debtor in a case under chapter 7 of title 11, United States Code, unless requested tax documents have been provided to the court.

“(span)Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 Cases.—The court shall not confirm a plan of reorganization in the case of an individual under chapter 11 or 13 of title 11, United States Code, unless requested tax documents have been filed with the court.

“(c)Document Retention.—The court shall destroy documents submitted in support of a bankruptcy claim not sooner than 3 years after the date of the conclusion of a case filed by an individual under chapter 7, 11, or 13 of title 11, United States Code. In the event of a pending audit or enforcement action, the court may extend the time for destruction of such requested tax documents.”