United States Code
11 U.S.C. § 1306 — Property of the estate
Section 1306 defines what belongs to the bankruptcy estate in a chapter 13 case. Subsection (a) adds two categories to the property specified in section 541: property of that kind the debtor acquires after filing, and earnings from services the debtor performs after filing. Both stop when the case is closed, dismissed, or converted, whichever occurs first. Subsection (b) provides that the debtor remains in possession of estate property except as a confirmed plan or confirmation order states.
If you are in a chapter 13 case, or considering one, an early practical question is what the bankruptcy estate takes in — and whether it stops at the filing date. Section 1306 answers that question directly. It states what the estate includes in addition to the property specified in section 541, and it states who remains in possession of that property while the case runs.
What is property of the estate in a Chapter 13 case?
Subsection (a) does not start from scratch. It begins with the property specified in section 541 of title 11 and then adds to it. The two additions are set out in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2). Paragraph (1) covers property of the kind specified in section 541 that the debtor acquires after the case begins. Paragraph (2) covers earnings from services the debtor performs after the case begins. So under this section the estate is not a single snapshot taken on the filing date; it is a category that continues to take in property and earnings while the case runs. The section does not say how that property is treated, valued, or distributed — it says only what the estate includes. Subsection (b) then addresses possession of it. The full text of both paragraphs appears below.
Are wages earned after filing part of the Chapter 13 estate?
Paragraph (a)(2) names one category specifically: earnings from services performed by the debtor after the commencement of the case. That language reaches work the debtor does after filing, and it includes the resulting earnings in the estate until one of the ending events named in the paragraph occurs. This is the provision people are usually asking about when they ask what happens to a paycheck during a chapter 13 case. It is worth noting what the paragraph does and does not do. It says those earnings are property of the estate. It does not say who holds them, what a plan may require of them, or what happens to anything left over — the section is silent on all of that. Subsection (b) is the closest this section comes, and it speaks to possession of estate property generally rather than to earnings in particular.
What happens to property acquired after the case is filed?
Paragraph (a)(1) reaches property of the kind specified in section 541 that the debtor acquires after the commencement of the case but before the case ends. The test it states has two parts: the kind of property, and the timing. Because the paragraph borrows its description of the kind of property from section 541, what counts turns on that section, which is not reproduced here — the paragraph itself states no separate exception in the text below. The timing limit is the same one used in paragraph (2): the property must be acquired before the case is closed, dismissed, or converted to a case under chapter 7, 11, or 12, whichever occurs first. Courts read those two paragraphs together with section 541, so a full picture requires both. Read paragraph (a)(1) in the text below alongside the ending events described there.
When does property stop being added to the estate?
Both paragraphs of subsection (a) use the same ending point, and it is written as a race: the case being closed, the case being dismissed, or the case being converted to a case under chapter 7, 11, or 12 of title 11 — whichever occurs first. Property acquired, and services performed, before that moment fall within subsection (a). The "whichever occurs first" language matters because more than one of those events can be in view at once; the earliest one controls. Conversion is listed alongside closing and dismissal, so a case that moves to chapter 7, 11, or 12 reaches the same cutoff as one that closes. The section does not describe how any of those events comes about, or what standards a court applies to them. It fixes them only as the boundary for what subsection (a) takes in.
Who stays in possession of property during a Chapter 13 case?
Subsection (b) is a single sentence: except as provided in a confirmed plan or order confirming a plan, the debtor shall remain in possession of all property of the estate. Two things follow from how it is written. First, remaining in possession is the stated default, and it applies to all property of the estate — including the post-filing property and post-filing earnings that subsection (a) brings in. Second, that default is subject to an exception from a specific source: a confirmed plan, or the order confirming a plan. Language in those documents can provide otherwise. Possession is not the same as ownership, and the subsection does not address what may be done with property while it is held, or what a plan may require. Those terms are set in the plan and the confirmation order, which this section does not describe.
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 11 U.S.C. § 1306
Reproduced in full from the official source, verified as of July 2026. View it at the source.
(a) Property of the estate includes, in addition to the property specified in section 541 of this title—
(1) all property of the kind specified in such section that the debtor acquires after the commencement of the case but before the case is closed, dismissed, or converted to a case under chapter 7, 11, or 12 of this title, whichever occurs first; and
(2) earnings from services performed by the debtor after the commencement of the case but before the case is closed, dismissed, or converted to a case under chapter 7, 11, or 12 of this title, whichever occurs first.
(b) Except as provided in a confirmed plan or order confirming a plan, the debtor shall remain in possession of all property of the estate.
(Pub. L. 95–598, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2647; Pub. L. 99–554, title II, §257(u), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3116.)
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.
Historical and Revision Notes
legislative statements
Section 1306(a)(2) adopts a provision contained in the Senate amendment in preference to a similar provision contained in the House bill.
senate report no. 95–989
Section 541 is expressly made applicable to chapter 13 cases by section 103(a). Section 1306 broadens the definition of property of the estate for chapter 13 purposes to include all property acquired and all earnings from services performed by the debtor after the commencement of the case.
Subsection (b) nullifies the effect of section 521(3), otherwise applicable, by providing that a chapter 13 debtor need not surrender possession of property of the estate, unless required by the plan or order of confirmation.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
**1986**—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–554 inserted reference to chapter 12 in pars. (1) and (2).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 99–554 effective 30 days after Oct. 27, 1986, but not applicable to cases commenced under this title before that date, see section 302(a), (c)(1) of Pub. L. 99–554, set out as a note under section 581 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Guides that rely on 11 U.S.C. § 1306
Plain-language explanations on this site that cite this section.
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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