A Chapter 13 case is dismissed before confirmation. Or it is converted to a Chapter 7. In either situation, debtor's counsel has done real work and the Chapter 13 Trustee is sitting on funds the debtor paid in. What happens to those funds — and how does counsel get paid?
The answer in the Middle District of Florida runs through 11 U.S.C. § 503 and a specific FLMB procedure that has been on the books since 2020 and was last revised April 2, 2026.
The Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse in Tampa — one of the principal seats of the Middle District of Florida and home to a substantial Chapter 13 docket. Photo by Ebyabe via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The statutory hook
11 U.S.C. § 503 governs administrative expense claims in bankruptcy. Counsel for a Chapter 13 debtor can apply for, move for, or request an administrative expense claim when the case is converted to another chapter or dismissed pre-confirmation. If granted, the fee is paid as an administrative claim from funds held by the Chapter 13 Trustee, who pays the attorney directly.
Other administrative claims are available under § 503 — creditors, vendors, and others can file as well — but for debtor's counsel, this is the path that recovers fees that would otherwise be stranded.
The FLMB procedure at a glance
The Middle District of Florida has codified the procedure as a docketing event under Bankruptcy → Motions/Applications/Objections → Application/Motion/Request for Payment of Administrative Expenses. The procedure was implemented August 14, 2020, and last revised April 2, 2026.
Key facts every Ch.13 debtor's attorney in the Middle District should have committed to memory:
- Negative Notice: Yes. The application is filed under negative notice procedure.
- Accompanying Orders: None required.
- Code and Rule References: 11 U.S.C. § 503; Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002(a)(6) and (h); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9034; Local Rule 2002-4; Local Rule 3071-1; Local Rule 9013-3; Administrative Order FLMB-2025-1.
- Fee: None.
- Applicable Chapter: 13 only.
The filing checklist
The Court has published a clear checklist for what gets reviewed when the application is filed. Debtor's counsel should run every application through these four questions before docketing:
- Is the application signed?
- Does the signature block contain the attorney's name and complete address — and is it consistent with the filing attorney's name and address in CM/ECF? This is a frequent failure point in firms with multiple attorneys or recently changed addresses.
- Is the application properly served — and does it contain a proper Certificate of Service?
- If the application includes negative notice, does the notice contain the correct language located on the first page?
The response period is 14 days, with 3 additional days if any party was served by U.S. Mail.
The two forms you need
There are two FLMB-published forms for this procedure:
- Application for Administrative Expense Claim for Attorney for Debtor — Chapter 13. This is the application itself.
- Order Approving Application for Administrative Expense Claim for Attorney for Debtor — Chapter 13. This is the proposed order to accompany.
Both are available on the Middle District of Florida Bankruptcy Court website. Use them. Like the FLNB practice on Required Local Form Orders, the proposed order in the Middle District is part of the motion, and a non-conforming proposed order can produce delays that the meritorious application does not deserve.
Practical notes from practice
A few things that come up in real Chapter 13 practice when fees are sought as administrative expense:
- File promptly after dismissal or conversion. The Trustee is not going to hold funds indefinitely, and creditors with their own administrative-expense claims may compete for the same pool.
- Document the work that produced value to the estate. The fee request lives or dies on whether the work is necessary to the administration of the case.
- Watch the negative notice mechanics. A defective Certificate of Service or a misplaced negative-notice paragraph is the most common reason a meritorious fee application gets continued.
- Coordinate with the Trustee in advance. A short call before filing often surfaces objections you can resolve at the desk rather than at the bench.
Why this procedure matters
For consumer-bankruptcy attorneys, especially in the Middle District where the docket runs heavy, the administrative-expense procedure is one of the few mechanisms to recover the cost of a case that did not reach confirmation. Lawyers who do not know the procedure leave fees on the table. Lawyers who know it as a routine practice keep their economics intact even when individual cases do not survive to confirmation.
The full procedural memo is published by the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.
If your firm regularly files Chapter 13 in the Middle District and you want a brief on optimizing your fee recovery procedures, request a private introduction or call 877-862-7188.