United States Code
11 U.S.C. § 350 — Closing and reopening cases
Section 350 governs the end of a bankruptcy case and what can happen afterward. Subsection (a) directs the court to close the case once the estate has been fully administered and the court has discharged the trustee. Subsection (b) provides that a closed case may be reopened in the court in which it was closed — to administer assets, to accord relief to the debtor, or for other cause.
Closing is the administrative end of a bankruptcy case, and it is easy to assume it is also the permanent end. Section 350 is short, but it sets both halves of that picture: the conditions under which the court closes a case, and the fact that a closed case can be reopened. If something surfaces after your case is over, this is the section that speaks to it.
When does the bankruptcy court close a case?
Subsection (a) sets two conditions and then directs a result. The estate must be fully administered, and the court must have discharged the trustee. Once both have happened, the text says the court "shall" close the case — closing is directed rather than left to the court's preference. Read in that order, closing is the last administrative step, not the first. The work on the estate is finished, the trustee's role formally ends, and the case file is then closed. The section does not define "fully administered," and it does not describe what that work involves in any particular case. It also does not, in this text, set out a notice procedure or a waiting period before closing. If you are trying to understand why your case is still open, subsection (a) tells you what has to be complete before it can close, but the specifics of your estate come from the record in your case.
Does the court discharging the trustee mean I got a discharge?
No — and this is a common point of confusion, because the same word appears in both settings. Subsection (a) speaks of the court having "discharged the trustee." That is the release of the trustee from the trustee's duties in the case, and it is one of the two conditions for closing. It is a separate event from a debtor's discharge, which is not what subsection (a) is describing. Nothing in section 350 states when or whether a debtor receives a discharge, what debts are affected, or what a discharge does. Those questions are answered elsewhere in the Code, not here. When you read subsection (a), read "the trustee" literally: the sentence is about the trustee's release, and about the case file being closed once that release and full administration of the estate have both occurred.
Can a closed bankruptcy case be reopened?
Yes — subsection (b) provides that a case "may be reopened." The word "may" matters. Subsection (a) directs the court to close a case once its conditions are met; subsection (b) uses permissive language instead, so reopening is something the court may do rather than something that follows automatically. The text does not describe who asks, what the request has to contain, or what the court weighs in deciding. It also does not state a deadline — subsection (b) contains no time limit on its face, and no statement that the passage of time closes the door. What subsection (b) does supply is the framework: a case that has already been closed is not necessarily beyond the court's reach, and the section identifies the grounds on which reopening is available. Because the text is silent on procedure, the mechanics come from the rules and from the practice of the court where the case was closed.
What reasons does the law give for reopening a case?
Subsection (b) lists three: to administer assets, to accord relief to the debtor, or for other cause. The first covers property of the estate that was not dealt with while the case was open — the reason for going back is that something remains to be administered. The second is framed around relief to the debtor, so a request made by or for the debtor's benefit falls within the subsection's own language. The third, "other cause," is deliberately open-ended; the text does not enumerate what qualifies, and courts consider whether cause exists on the circumstances presented. Note what the subsection does not say. It does not promise a particular result once a case is reopened, and it does not state that any of the three grounds is easier or harder than the others. It identifies the categories; the section stops there.
Which court handles a reopened bankruptcy case?
Subsection (b) answers this directly: a case may be reopened "in the court in which such case was closed." You go back to the same court, not to a different district and not to a court closer to where you may have moved since. The text names no exception to that and describes no transfer mechanism. Practically, that means the identity of the correct court is settled by history rather than by anything about your current situation — it is wherever the case was closed. This also explains why the closing of a case under subsection (a) matters beyond the moment it happens: the closing court remains the point of return if any of the three grounds in subsection (b) later apply. If you are unsure which court closed your case, that is a records question rather than a legal one, and the case number and closing order identify it.
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. § 350
Reproduced in full from the official source, verified as of July 2026. View it at the source.
(a) After an estate is fully administered and the court has discharged the trustee, the court shall close the case.
(b) A case may be reopened in the court in which such case was closed to administer assets, to accord relief to the debtor, or for other cause.
(Pub. L. 95–598, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2569; Pub. L. 98–353, title III, §439, July 10, 1984, 98 Stat. 370.)
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
Subsection (a) requires the court to close a bankruptcy case after the estate is fully administered and the trustee discharged. The Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure will provide the procedure for case closing. Subsection (b) permits reopening of the case to administer assets, to accord relief to the debtor, or for other cause. Though the court may permit reopening of a case so that the trustee may exercise an avoiding power, laches may constitute a bar to an action that has been delayed too long. The case may be reopened in the court in which it was closed. The rules will prescribe the procedure by which a case is reopened and how it will be conducted after reopening.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
**1984**—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–353 substituted "A" for "a".
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
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. § 350
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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