When the court sets a date for the distribution hearing, who must be notified, and when may the debtor be left without notice?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file of this kind, we read the application for distribution, the papers listing the creditors concerned, the court's notice fixing the hearing date and any proof of service on each creditor and on the debtor, together with papers recording where the debtor is said to be.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision in its terms: the court must designate the date on which it will carry out the distribution and must notify the creditors and the debtor of it, and the proviso cuts the duty to notify only where the debtor is abroad or the debtor's whereabouts are not clear.
Another reading notes that the proviso speaks only of the debtor, so the duty to notify the creditors stands in full whatever the debtor's situation, and it points out that the provision leaves open what may happen at a hearing the debtor never knew of.
Your judgment
If the debtor's whereabouts were unclear when the date was set but later became known, what in the file would show whether any further notice was given?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change when the debtor may be left unnotified, or if a court decision explains what counts as the debtor's whereabouts being unclear or what follows when the debtor received no notice.