United States Code

11 U.S.C. § 1329 — Modification of plan after confirmation

Section 1329 allows a confirmed Chapter 13 plan to be changed while payments are still being made. The debtor, the trustee, or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim may request a modification that increases or reduces payments on a class of claims, extends or shortens the time for payments, adjusts a creditor's distribution to account for payments made outside the plan, or reduces payments by documented health insurance costs.

A Chapter 13 plan runs for years, and life rarely stays the same for that long. Section 1329 is the provision that recognizes this: it sets out when a plan that has already been confirmed can still be changed, who may ask, and how long the modified plan may run. If your income has dropped, a debt has been paid outside the plan, or you now have to buy health insurance, this is the section that governs what happens next.

Can a Chapter 13 plan be changed after it is confirmed?

Yes. Subsection (a) opens the door to modification "at any time after confirmation of the plan but before the completion of payments under such plan." Those two boundaries matter. Confirmation is the starting line — this section is not about objecting to a plan before it is approved. Completion of payments is the finish line: once the payments called for by the plan have been made, subsection (a) no longer offers a route to change it. Between those two points, the plan is not frozen. It can be revisited when circumstances change, and the section contemplates changes in either direction — payments on a class of claims may be increased as well as reduced, and the time for payments may be extended as well as shortened. What subsection (a) provides is the authority to ask; it does not describe what a court will decide in any particular case.

Who can ask to modify a confirmed Chapter 13 plan?

Subsection (a) names three requesting parties and no others: the debtor, the trustee, or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim. That list is worth reading closely, because it means the debtor is not the only person who can reopen the terms of a confirmed plan. A trustee may request a change, and so may a creditor holding an allowed unsecured claim. The request is what starts the process; it is not the change itself. Separately, subsection (a)(4) mentions a broader group in a narrow role — "any party in interest" may request that the debtor file proof that a health insurance policy was actually purchased, in connection with a reduction taken for insurance costs. And subsection (b)(2) makes the modified plan effective unless it is disapproved after notice and a hearing, which means other parties still have a point at which to be heard even though they cannot themselves request the modification.

What changes to a plan does subsection (a) allow?

Subsection (a) sets out four categories. Paragraph (1) allows an increase or reduction in the amount of payments on claims of a particular class provided for by the plan — the change is aimed at a class of claims, not the plan as an undifferentiated whole. Paragraph (2) allows the time for those payments to be extended or reduced. Paragraph (3) allows the amount distributed to a creditor whose claim is provided for by the plan to be altered "to the extent necessary to take account of any payment of such claim other than under the plan" — in other words, to reflect money that creditor received outside the plan, so the distribution is not duplicated. Paragraph (4) allows amounts paid under the plan to be reduced by the actual amount the debtor spent on health insurance, subject to the documentation and comparison requirements spelled out in its subparagraphs (A) through (C).

Can plan payments be reduced to pay for health insurance?

Paragraph (a)(4) addresses this directly, and it is the most detailed provision in the section. The reduction is measured by the actual amount the debtor spent to purchase health insurance for the debtor, and for a dependent of the debtor if that dependent does not otherwise have coverage. The debtor must document the cost and demonstrate three things. Subparagraph (A): that the expenses are reasonable and necessary. Subparagraph (B): if the debtor previously paid for health insurance, that the amount is not materially larger than what the debtor paid before or what it would cost to maintain the lapsed policy; if the debtor had no insurance, that the amount is not materially larger than the reasonable cost for a debtor with similar income, expenses, age, and health status, living in the same geographical location, with the same number of dependents who lack coverage. Subparagraph (C): that the amount is not otherwise allowed in determining disposable income. On request of any party in interest, the debtor files proof that a policy was purchased.

How long can a modified Chapter 13 plan last?

Subsection (c) sets the outer limits. A plan modified under this section may not provide for payments over a period that expires after the applicable commitment period, measured from the time the first payment under the original confirmed plan was due. That starting point is important: the clock runs from the original plan, not from the date of the modification, so modifying a plan late in the case does not restart the measurement. There is one exception and one hard ceiling. The court may, for cause, approve a longer period than the applicable commitment period. But the ceiling is absolute — the court "may not approve a period that expires after five years" after the time the first payment under the original confirmed plan was due. So extending the time for payments under subsection (a)(2) is possible, and it is bounded. Whether cause exists in a given case is a determination courts make on the facts before them.

Does a court have to approve a plan modification?

Subsection (b) handles the procedure, and it works differently than many people expect. Under subsection (b)(2), "[t]he plan as modified becomes the plan unless, after notice and a hearing, such modification is disapproved." The default direction is toward the modification taking effect; the mechanism for stopping it is disapproval following notice and a hearing, not an affirmative grant of permission. That does not make a modification unconstrained. Subsection (b)(1) applies a set of other Code requirements to any modification requested under subsection (a) — provisions governing what a plan must and may contain, and the requirements a plan must satisfy to be confirmed. Those provisions are identified by section number in subsection (b), and their full text is not reproduced on this page. The practical effect is that a modified plan has to meet the same substantive standards a plan meets in the first place, even though the procedural default runs toward the modification becoming the plan.

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. § 1329

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

(a) At any time after confirmation of the plan but before the completion of payments under such plan, the plan may be modified, upon request of the debtor, the trustee, or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim, to—

(1) increase or reduce the amount of payments on claims of a particular class provided for by the plan;

(2) extend or reduce the time for such payments;

(3) alter the amount of the distribution to a creditor whose claim is provided for by the plan to the extent necessary to take account of any payment of such claim other than under the plan; or

(4) reduce amounts to be paid under the plan by the actual amount expended by the debtor to purchase health insurance for the debtor (and for any dependent of the debtor if such dependent does not otherwise have health insurance coverage) if the debtor documents the cost of such insurance and demonstrates that—

(A) such expenses are reasonable and necessary;

(B)(i) if the debtor previously paid for health insurance, the amount is not materially larger than the cost the debtor previously paid or the cost necessary to maintain the lapsed policy; or

(ii) if the debtor did not have health insurance, the amount is not materially larger than the reasonable cost that would be incurred by a debtor who purchases health insurance, who has similar income, expenses, age, and health status, and who lives in the same geographical location with the same number of dependents who do not otherwise have health insurance coverage; and

(C) the amount is not otherwise allowed for purposes of determining disposable income under section 1325(b) of this title;

and upon request of any party in interest, files proof that a health insurance policy was purchased.

(b)(1) Sections 1322(a), 1322(b), and 1323(c) of this title and the requirements of section 1325(a) of this title apply to any modification under subsection (a) of this section.

(2) The plan as modified becomes the plan unless, after notice and a hearing, such modification is disapproved.

(c) A plan modified under this section may not provide for payments over a period that expires after the applicable commitment period under section 1325(b)(1)(B) after the time that the first payment under the original confirmed plan was due, unless the court, for cause, approves a longer period, but the court may not approve a period that expires after five years after such time.

(Pub. L. 95–598, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2651; Pub. L. 98–353, title III, §§319, 533, July 10, 1984, 98 Stat. 357, 389; Pub. L. 109–8, title I, §102(i), title III, §318(4), Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 34, 94; Pub. L. 116–136, div. A, title I, §1113(b)(1)(C), (2)(A)(iii), Mar. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 311, 312; Pub. L. 116–260, div. FF, title X, §1001(e), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 3218; Pub. L. 117–5, §2(b)(1), Mar. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 249.)

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

senate report no. 95–989

At any time prior to the completion of payments under a confirmed plan, the plan may be modified, after notice and hearing, to change the amount of payments to creditors or a particular class of creditors and to extend or reduce the payment period. A modified plan may not contain any provision which could not be included in an original plan as prescribed by section 1322. A modified plan may not call for payments to be made beyond four years as measured from the date of the commencement of payments under the original plan.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

**2021**—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 117–5 substituted "the COVID–19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021" for "this subsection" in introductory provisions.

**2020**—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–136, §1113(b)(2)(A)(ii), struck out subsec. (d) which related to modification of plan confirmed before Mar. 27, 2020, where debtor experienced material financial hardship due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic.

Pub. L. 116–136, §1113(b)(1)(C), added subsec. (d).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–260, §1001(e)(2), struck out subsec. (e) which related to debtor of case for which creditor files proof of claim under section 501(f) of this title.

Pub. L. 116–260, §1001(e)(1), added subsec. (e).

**2005**—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 109–8, §102(i), added par. (4).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–8, §318(4), substituted "the applicable commitment period under section 1325(b)(1)(B)" for "three years".

**1984**—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–353, §§319, 533(1), (2), inserted "of the plan" after "confirmation", substituted "such plan" for "a plan", and inserted provisions respecting requests by the debtor, the trustee, or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim for modification.

Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 98–353, §533(3), substituted "plan to" for "plan, to".

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2020 Amendment

Pub. L. 116–260, div. FF, title X, §1001(e)(2), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 3219, provided that the amendment made by section 1001(e)(2) is effective on the date that is 1 year after Dec. 27, 2020.

Pub. L. 116–136, div. A, title I, §1113(b)(1)(D)(ii), Mar. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 312, as amended by Pub. L. 117–5, §2(b)(2), Mar. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 249, provided that: "The amendment made by subparagraph (C) [amending this section] shall apply to any case for which a plan has been confirmed under section 1325 of title 11, United States Code, before the date of enactment of the COVID–19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021 [Pub. L. 117–5, approved Mar. 27, 2021]."

Amendment by section 1113(b)(2)(A)(iii) of Pub. L. 116–136, effective 2 years after Mar. 27, 2020, see section 1113(b)(2)(B) of Pub. L. 116–136, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date of 2005 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 109–8 effective 180 days after Apr. 20, 2005, and not applicable with respect to cases commenced under this title before such effective date, except as otherwise provided, see section 1501 of Pub. L. 109–8, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 98–353 effective with respect to cases filed 90 days after July 10, 1984, see section 552(a) of Pub. L. 98–353, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Guides that rely on 11 U.S.C. § 1329

Plain-language explanations on this site that cite this section.

By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022

Last reviewed July 26, 2026 · Sources verified July 26, 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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