December 1, 2026 Federal Bankruptcy Rule Amendments and Updated Fee Schedule

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (FRBP) will take effect on December 1, 2026.

Amendments to FRBP 1007 (Lists, Schedules, Statements), FRBP 5009 (Closing a Case), and FRBP 9006 (Computing and Extending Time) are interrelated and intended to reduce the number of cases closed without discharge due to failure to take (or failure to file documentation upon completion of) the personal financial management course. The amendments eliminate the deadlines for filing the certificate of course completion for the debtor's personal financial management course and implement a new requirement that the Clerk's Office send notices to individual debtors in either a chapter 7 or chapter 13 case for whom a certificate has not been filed within 45 days after the petition was filed.

FRBP 3018 (Chapter 9 or 11 - Accepting or Rejecting a Plan) is amended to authorize a court to treat a statement on the record by an individual creditor, or the creditor's attorney or authorized agent, as an acceptance of a plan, in lieu of requiring a written ballot.

FRBP 9014 (Contested Matters) and FRBP 9017 (Evidence) are amended to allow a court in a contested matter to have more flexibility to permit remote witness testimony "for cause and with appropriate safeguards," eliminating the requirement of "compelling circumstances."

FRBP 7043 (Taking Testimony) is a new rule which applies Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 43 (Taking Testimony) specifically to adversary proceedings, thereby authorizing remote witness testimony "for good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards." FRCP 43 is no longer applicable to contested matters under these amendments.

Official Form 101 (Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy) is modified to clarify the Employee Identification Number (EIN) requirement and instructs debtors to not list the EIN of any separate legal entity such as the debtor's employer, a corporation, partnership, or LLC that is not filing the petition.

Official Form 106C (Schedule C) is amended to require the total of specific-dollar amount of the exemptions and adds a space on the form for the total value of the debtor's interest in exempt property.

Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 801 (Attacking and Supporting the Declarant's Credibility) is amended to eliminate the requirement that a prior inconsistent statement is admissible over a hearsay objection only if it was given under penalty of perjury and allows any prior inconsistent statement by a declarant-witness to be admissible as substantive evidence, subject to exclusion under FRE 403 (Excluding Relative Evidence for Prejudice, Confusion, Waste of Time, or Other Reasons).

Appellate Form 4 (Affidavit Accompanying Motion for Permission to Appeal IFP) is simplified and reduced to two pages by reducing the amount of personal financial information required.

The Judicial Conference of the United States amended the Miscellaneous Fee Schedule to increase certain fees for inflation, which will also take effect on December 1, 2026. You can see the changes here.

Links to the amended FRBP rules as well as amendments to other Federal rules can be found at the Administrative Office of the United States Courts website.

Links to the new Official Forms can be found at Updated Forms.