11 U.S.C. § 350(a) provides that the court shall close a case when it is “fully administered”. Neither the Bankruptcy Code nor the rules provide an explicit procedure,however, for closing a chapter 11 case. Further, when a Chapter 11 case is closed, the court must provide information on payments made during the case to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. It is often difficult, if not impossible, for the court to obtain this information from the record. The closing procedure will be initiated by the filing of a motion for entry of a final decree and closing report. Here are the steps that should be taken:

1. A party in interest (usually, but not necessarily, the plan proponent) must file the following documents with the court:

a. A Motion for Entry of Final Decree and Notice of Creditors of opportunity to object to entry of a final decree.

b. A Chapter 11 Closing Report from the debtor [trustee or disbursing agent as may be appropriate].

2. Copies of the Motion for Final Decree and Chapter 11 Closing Report should be served on the following parties: Office of the US Trustee, trustee [if any], secured creditors, administrative expense creditors, the IRS, State of Hawaii, the 20 largest unsecured creditors [or committee if one has been appointed], and all parties who have filed a request for notice. A copy of the proposed final decree should be served on the Office of the United States Trustee.

3. If no objection is filed within 30 days after service of the documents noted above, the moving party should then file a proposed final decree. For one possible form, see 11 Collier on Bankruptcy (15th ed.) Part 6.

If no objection is filed to the final decree, the final decree will be entered and the case will be closed approximately 10 days later.