Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3015.1 — Requirements for a Local Form for a Chapter 13 Plan

Rule 3015.1 lets a bankruptcy district require its own single local form for a Chapter 13 plan instead of the national Form 113. It is an exception to Rule 9029(a)(1). A local form counts only if it meets five conditions: adoption after public notice and comment, numbered paragraphs with bold headings, an opening disclosure paragraph, separate paragraphs on four specified subjects, and a final paragraph for nonstandard provisions with a certification.

If you are filing Chapter 13, the plan is the document that says how you propose to pay your creditors over time. Most districts use the national form, but this rule allows a district to require its own local plan form instead. Rule 3015.1 sets the conditions a district's local form has to meet, so a local form still has to cover the same core subjects and flag the same unusual terms.

Why does my district use its own Chapter 13 plan form?

The rule opens by describing itself as an exception to Rule 9029(a)(1), which is the general rule about local district practice. Under Rule 3015.1, a district may require that a single local form be used for a Chapter 13 plan instead of Form 113. Two words there matter. First, "single" — the permission is for one local form for the district, not a menu of them. Second, "instead of" — where a district has adopted a conforming local form, that form takes the place of the national one. Subsection (a) adds the process condition: the local form has to be adopted for the district after public notice and an opportunity for comment. So a local plan form is not something a court adopts quietly; the rule builds in a chance for lawyers, trustees, creditors, and the public to see the proposed form and respond before it becomes the required form. If you are filing in a district with a local form, that is the authority the district is acting under.

What must a local Chapter 13 plan form contain?

The rule lists five requirements, and they are joined by "and" — a local form is permitted if it does all of them, not some. Subsection (a) covers how the form is adopted: public notice and an opportunity for comment. Subsection (b) covers how the form reads: each paragraph must be numbered and labeled in boldface type, with a heading that states its general subject matter. That is a navigation requirement. It means you should be able to scan a conforming local plan and find the part dealing with your house, or your support obligation, without reading the whole document. Subsection (c) requires an opening paragraph in which the debtor indicates whether the plan does or does not do three specific things. Subsection (d) requires separate paragraphs on four listed subjects. Subsection (e) requires a final paragraph that does two jobs. Together the five conditions describe a form that is structured, labeled, and self-disclosing rather than free-form.

What is the opening paragraph of the plan asking about?

Subsection (c) requires the local form to include an opening paragraph for the debtor to indicate that the plan does or does not do three things. Paragraph (c)(1) is whether the plan contains a nonstandard provision. Paragraph (c)(2) is whether the plan limits the amount of a secured claim based on a valuation of the collateral — in plain terms, whether the plan treats part of a secured debt differently based on what the property is worth. Paragraph (c)(3) is whether the plan avoids a security interest or lien. The placement is deliberate: this paragraph comes at the opening, so anyone reading the plan sees these three answers before anything else. Notice the phrasing the rule uses. The debtor indicates that the plan "does or does not" do each of these. It is a disclosure about the contents of the document, made up front, so a creditor or the trustee reading the plan knows immediately whether to look for those terms inside.

Which subjects must get their own paragraph in the plan?

Subsection (d) requires the local form to contain separate paragraphs relating to four subjects. Paragraph (d)(1) is curing any default and maintaining payments on a claim secured by the debtor's principal residence — the home mortgage arrears situation. Paragraph (d)(2) is paying a domestic support obligation. Paragraph (d)(3) is paying a claim described in the final paragraph of §1325(a). Paragraph (d)(4) is surrendering property that secures a claim and requesting that the stay under §362(a) or 1301(a) related to that property be terminated. The word doing the work is "separate." These four subjects cannot be folded into general language elsewhere in the plan; each needs its own paragraph, which under subsection (b) also carries a numbered, boldfaced heading naming its subject. If your case involves a mortgage you are behind on, a support obligation, or property you intend to give back, subsection (d) is the part of the rule that tells you the plan form has a designated place for it.

What is a nonstandard provision, and why does it have to go at the end?

Subsection (e) requires the local form to end with a final paragraph doing two things. Under (e)(1) it must provide a place for nonstandard provisions, as that term is defined in Rule 3015(c), together with a warning that any nonstandard provision placed elsewhere in the plan is void. That warning is the consequence the rule attaches: a term outside the designated final paragraph has no effect, even though it appears in the filed document. Under (e)(2) the final paragraph must provide a place for a certification — by the debtor's attorney, or by an unrepresented debtor — that the plan does not contain any nonstandard provision except as set out in that final paragraph. Read together with subsection (c)(1), which asks up front whether the plan has a nonstandard provision at all, the structure makes unusual terms hard to bury. If you are reviewing a proposed Chapter 13 plan, the final paragraph is where anything out of the ordinary is supposed to appear.

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. 3015.1

Reproduced in full from the official source, verified as of July 2026. View it at the source.

As an exception to Rule 9029(a)(1), a district may require that a single local form be used for a Chapter 13 plan instead of Form 113 if it:

(a) is adopted for the district after public notice and an opportunity for comment;

(b) numbers and labels each paragraph in boldface type with a heading that states its general subject matter;

(1) contain a nonstandard provision;

(2) limit the amount of a secured claim based on a valuation of the collateral; or

(3) avoid a security interest or lien;

(d) contains separate paragraphs relating to:

(1) curing any default and maintaining payments on a claim secured by the debtor's principal residence;

(2) paying a domestic support obligation;

(3) paying a claim described in the final paragraph of §1325(a); and

(4) surrendering property that secures a claim and requesting that the stay under §362(a) or 1301(a) related to the property be terminated; and

(e) contains a final paragraph providing a place for:

(1) nonstandard provisions as defined in Rule 3015(c), with a warning that any nonstandard provision placed elsewhere is void; and

(2) a certification by the debtor's attorney, or by an unrepresented debtor, that the plan does not contain any nonstandard provision except as set out in the final paragraph.

(Added Apr. 27, 2017, eff. Dec. 1, 2017; amended 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.

Committee Notes on Rules—2017

This rule is new. It sets out features required for all Local Forms for plans in chapter 13 cases. If a Local Form does not comply with this rule, it may not be used in lieu of the Official Chapter 13 Plan Form. See Rule 3015(c).

Under the rule only one Local Form may be adopted in a district. The rule does not specify the method of adoption, but it does require that adoption of a Local Form be preceded by a public notice and comment period.

To promote consistency among Local Forms and clarity of content of chapter 13 plans, the rule prescribes several formatting and disclosure requirements. Paragraphs in such a form must be numbered and labeled in bold type, and the form must contain separate paragraphs for the cure and maintenance of home mortgages, payment of domestic support obligations, treatment of secured claims covered by the "hanging paragraph" of §1325(a), and surrender of property securing a claim. Whether those portions of the Local Form are used in a given chapter 13 case will depend on the debtor's individual circumstances.

The rule requires that a Local Form begin with a paragraph for the debtor to call attention to the fact that the plan contains a nonstandard provision; limits the amount of a secured claim based on a valuation of the collateral, as authorized by Rule 3012(b); or avoids a lien, as authorized by Rule 4003(d).

The last paragraph of a Local Form must be for the inclusion of any nonstandard provisions, as defined by Rule 3015(c), and must include a statement that nonstandard provisions placed elsewhere in the plan are void. This part gives the debtor the opportunity to propose provisions that are not otherwise in, or that deviate from, the Local Form. The form must also require a certification by the debtor's attorney or unrepresented debtor that there are no nonstandard provisions other than those placed in the final paragraph.

Committee Notes on Rules—2024 Amendment

The language of Rule 3015.1 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.

<sup>1</sup> Second period editorially added.

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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