Filing a claim in an estate (anmeldelse af krav i bo)
Also known as proof of debt, filing a claim, claim notification
Filing is the creditor's notice to the trustee that a claim exists — without it the estate is distributed as though the claim were not there.
- Sent to
- The trustee
- Must state
- The amount and basis of the claim
- Without it
- No dividend
In practice
The trustee does not know about your claim unless you tell him. The estate’s own books give an indication, but distribution is made on the basis of the claims filed — and a claim not filed gets nothing, however well founded it is.
The filing has to stand on its own. The amount, what it relates to, when it arose, and the documentation behind it. State the amount as at the date of the bankruptcy order; interest accruing afterwards sits at the back of the order of priority and does not lift the dividend.
If the claim is secured — a charge, retention of title, a guarantee — that has to appear. It decides whether the claim queues with the unsecured ones or whether there is recovery outside the estate altogether.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- Waiting to be contacted. The responsibility for filing rests with the creditor.
- Filing without documents. The trustee tests the claims, and an undocumented claim is disputed rather than admitted.