Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3012 — Determining the Amount of a Secured or Priority Claim
Rule 3012 sets out how the amount of a secured or priority claim gets decided. Subsection (a) lets a party in interest ask the court, after notice and a hearing, to determine the amount of a secured claim under §506(a) or a priority claim under §507. Subsection (b) gives the ways to ask — a motion, an objection to the claim, or a Chapter 12 or 13 plan. Subsection (c) adds timing limits for a governmental unit's secured claim.
When you file, creditors state what they say they are owed and whether that debt is secured by your property or entitled to priority. Those labels and numbers drive what a Chapter 13 plan has to pay. Rule 3012 is the procedural route for putting the amount of a secured or priority claim in front of the judge instead of accepting the creditor's figure by default.
What does Rule 3012 actually do?
Rule 3012 is a procedure, not a formula. It does not itself say how much a claim is worth. Subsection (a) says that on a party in interest's request, and after notice and a hearing, the court may determine two things: the amount of a secured claim under §506(a), and the amount of a priority claim under §507. The substantive standards live in those Code sections; Rule 3012 tells you how to get the question in front of the judge and who has to be told. The notice requirement in (a) is specific. It must be served on the holder of the claim, and on any other entity the court designates. That second category matters because a judge can decide other parties have a stake in the outcome and order them served too. Nothing in the rule happens automatically — the text is built around a request being made and a hearing being held.
How do you ask the court to determine the amount of a secured claim?
Subsection (b)(1) gives three routes, and says they apply except as provided in subsection (c). The request may be made by motion. It may be made inside an objection to a claim, so the amount question travels with the challenge to the claim itself. Or it may be made in a plan filed in a Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 case — which is why a Chapter 13 plan can carry this issue rather than requiring separate paperwork. That third route is limited by its terms to Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 cases; the rule does not extend it to other chapters. Which route fits a given situation is a judgment call about the case, and the rule leaves the choice open rather than ranking them. Subsection (c) removes governmental units from the plan route entirely, so read (b)(1) and (c) together before assuming a plan can resolve a government creditor's secured claim.
Why does a request inside a Chapter 13 plan get served like a lawsuit?
Subsection (b)(1) attaches a heightened service requirement to the plan route. If the request to determine a secured claim's amount is included in the plan, a copy of the plan must be served on the claim holder and any other entity the court designates as if it were a summons and complaint under Rule 7004. That phrase — as if it were a summons and complaint — borrows the service method used to start a lawsuit, rather than routine plan-distribution service. The practical point for a filer is that this step is not optional and is easy to overlook, because the plan otherwise circulates in the ordinary course. Rule 7004 supplies the details of how that service is carried out; Rule 3012 supplies only the cross-reference. If you are reading a plan that proposes to fix a secured creditor's amount, the service question is a real one to raise with a lawyer, because the rule ties the request to the manner of service.
How is a priority claim handled differently?
Subsection (b)(2) is narrower than (b)(1). A request to determine the amount of a priority claim may be made only by motion after the claim is filed, or in an objection to the claim. Two limits are worth noticing. First, the word only — the plan route available for secured claims under (b)(1) is not available here, so a Chapter 12 or 13 plan is not listed as a way to make this request. Second, timing: the motion route is described as coming after the claim is filed, so the rule contemplates a claim already on the docket rather than a preemptive request. The objection route carries the same practical sequencing, since an objection responds to a filed claim. Priority claims often involve categories like taxes and support obligations, and §507 is where the priority scheme itself lives; Rule 3012 only governs how the amount question reaches the court.
What changes when the creditor is a government agency?
Subsection (c) sets separate handling for a governmental unit's secured claim. The request may be made only by motion, or in an objection to a claim, and only after one of two events. Under (c)(1), the governmental unit has filed its proof of claim. Under (c)(2), the time to file that claim under Rule 3002(c)(1) has expired. So the rule waits for the government either to state its position or to run out of time to do so. The effect is that the plan route in (b)(1) is closed for these claims — subsection (b)(1) opens with an express carve-out for (c). If a tax authority or other governmental unit holds a lien in your case, the timing in (c) shapes when this question can be raised at all, and the deadline referenced sits in Rule 3002(c)(1) rather than in this rule.
This summary is our plain-English explanation, written to help you find the right part of the text below. The section itself is the authority — where the two differ, the text controls.
Text of Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3012
Reproduced in full from the official source, verified as of July 2026. View it at the source.
(a) In General. On a party in interest's request, after notice and a hearing, the court may determine the amount of a secured claim under §506(a) or the amount of a priority claim under §507. The notice must be served on:
• the claim holder; and
• any other entity the court designates.
(b) Determining the Amount of a Claim.
(1) *Secured Claim*. Except as provided in (c), a request to determine the amount of a secured claim may be made by motion, in an objection to a claim, or in a plan filed in a Chapter 12 or 13 case. If the request is included in a plan, a copy of the plan must be served on the claim holder and any other entity the court designates as if it were a summons and complaint under Rule 7004.
(2) *Priority Claim*. A request to determine the amount of a priority claim may be made only by motion after the claim is filed or in an objection to the claim.
(c) Governmental Unit's Secured Claim. A request to determine the amount of a governmental unit's secured claim may be made only by motion—or in an objection to a claim—filed after:
(1) the governmental unit has filed the proof of claim; or
(2) the time to file it under Rule 3002(c)(1) has expired.
(As amended Mar. 30, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 27, 2017, eff. Dec. 1, 2017; Apr. 2, 2024, eff. Dec. 1, 2024.)
Notes and amendment history
Published by the official source alongside the section above. These notes record how the text has changed over time and the reasoning behind those changes. They are not the operative rule — the enacted text is the section itself.
Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules—1983
Pursuant to §506(a) of the Code, secured claims are to be valued and allowed as secured to the extent of the value of the collateral and unsecured, to the extent it is enforceable, for the excess over such value. The valuation of secured claims may become important in different contexts *e.g*., to determine the issue of adequate protection under §361, impairment under §1124, or treatment of the claim in a plan pursuant to §1129(b) of the Code. This rule permits the issue to be raised on motion by a party in interest. The secured creditor is entitled to notice of the hearing on the motion and the court may direct that others in the case also receive such notice.
An adversary proceeding is commenced when the validity, priority, or extent of a lien is at issue as prescribed by Rule 7001. That proceeding is relevant to the basis of the lien itself while valuation under Rule 3012 would be for the purposes indicated above.
Committee Notes on Rules—2017 Amendment
This rule is amended and reorganized.
Subdivision (a) provides, in keeping with the former version of this rule, that a party in interest may seek a determination of the amount of a secured claim. The amended rule provides that the amount of a claim entitled to priority may also be determined by the court.
Subdivision (b) is added to provide that a request to determine the amount of a secured claim may be made in a chapter 12 or chapter 13 plan, as well as by a motion or a claim objection. When the request is made in a plan, the plan must be served on the holder of the claim and any other entities the court designates according to Rule 7004. Secured claims of governmental units are not included in this subdivision and are governed by subdivision (c). The amount of a claim entitled to priority may be determined through a motion or a claim objection.
Subdivision (c) clarifies that a determination under this rule with respect to a secured claim of a governmental unit may be made only by motion or in a claim objection, but not until the governmental unit has filed a proof of claim or its time for filing a proof of claim has expired.
Committee Notes on Rules—2024 Amendment
The language of Rule 3012 has been amended as part of the general restyling of the Bankruptcy Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. These changes are intended to be stylistic only.
Guides that rely on Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3012
Plain-language explanations on this site that cite this rule.
By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022
Last reviewed July 27, 2026 · Sources verified July 27, 2026 · How we verify
Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary legal source and checked against our canonical legal database before publication. Bankruptcy.law is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
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