December 1, 2010 Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Changes

Changes to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and to the Official Forms, Effective December 1, 2010

Rule	Change	Notes
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007	Shortens time for debtor to file a list of creditors after the entry of an order for relief in an involuntary case. Also extends time for individual chapter 7 debtors to file statement of completion of course in personal financial management, from 45 to 60 days after the first date set for the section 341 meeting.	See also amendment to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5009
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1014	Includes chapter 15 cases in the rule that authorizes the court to determine where cases should go forward when multiple petitions involving the same debtor are pending.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1015	Includes chapter 15 cases in the rule that authorizes the court to order consolidation or joint administration of cases.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1018	Reflects enactment of chapter 15 in 2005.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1019	With some exceptions, a new time period to object to a claim of exemption arises when a case is converted to chapter 7 from chapter 11, 12, or 13	The new time period does not arise if: (i) the conversion occurs more than one year after the first order confirming a plan, or (ii) the case was previously pending under chapter 7 and the objection period had expired in the prior chapter 7 case.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4001	Technical and conforming amendment on the computation of time.	The time periods in Rules 4001(d)(2) and 4002(d)(3) are changed from 15 days and 5 days to 14 days and 7 days, respectively.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4004	Is amended to: (a) include a new deadline for filing of motions (rather than complaints) under sections 727(a)(8), 727(a)(9), or 1328(f) of the Code objecting to a debtor's discharge; (b) direct the court not to grant a discharge if a motion or complaint objecting to discharge has been filed unless the objection has been decided in the debtor's favor; (c) direct the court in chapter 11 and 13 cases to withhold the entry of the discharge if the debtor has not filed with the court a statement of completion of a course concerning personal financial management; and (d) direct that objections to discharge under §§ 727(a)(8), (a)(9), and § 1328(f) are to be commenced by motion rather than by complaint.	(d) A new event, “objecting to discharge (motion),” will be added to the motions menu in CM-ECF
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5009	Amended to add new subdivisions (b) and (c) to the rule. Subdivision (b) requires the clerk to provide notice to individual debtors in chapter 7 and 13 cases that their cases may be closed if they fail to file a statement of completion of financial management course. Subdivision (c) requires a foreign representative in a chapter 15 case to file and give notice of the filing of a final report.	(b) The Court had been giving chapter 7 debtors notice of their failure to timely file the statement and a “second chance” 21-day deadline to avoid having the case closed without entry of discharge. The notice will now go out close to 46 days after the first date set for the section 341 meeting and will remind the debtor of the 60 days after the first date set for the section 341 meeting deadline. This change makes timely filing of the statement very important.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5012	New rule establishing procedures in chapter 15 cases for obtaining approval of an agreement regarding communications and coordinating of proceedings with cases involving the debtor pending in other countries.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7001	Item (4) in the rule is changed to read: (4) a proceeding to object to or revoke a discharge, other than an objection to discharge under sections 727(a)(8), (a)(9) or 1328(f).	Objections to discharge under the noted sections will be filed as motions, not complaints.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9001	Amended to add § 1502 to the list of definitions.

Official Form	Change
Official Forms 9A, 9C, and 9I	Technical changes that conform to the amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 4004 and 7001.1.
Official Forms 20A and 20B	Technical and conforming amendments.
Official Forms 22A, 22B, and 22C	Forms 22A, 22B, and 22C instruct that only one joint filer should report payments by another for household expenses. Forms 22A and 22C are amended to delete references to “household” and “household size” and are replaced by “number of persons” or “family size.” Finally, Form 22A directs debtors in joint cases to file separate forms only if one of the debtors is entitled to a Part I exemption.