What Is a Trustee's Report of No Distribution & What Does It Mean for Your Case?
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The Trustee's Report of No Distribution, or NDR, lets the court and all interested parties know that no money will be paid to creditors.
Written by Attorney Andrea Wimmer. Legally reviewed by Jonathan Petts
Updated August 20, 2025
What Is a Trustee Report of No Distribution?
The Trustee's Report of No Distribution (NDR) lets the court, your creditors, and any other interested parties know that no money will be paid to creditors as part of your bankruptcy case.
This usually means you're in what's called a no-asset case, where the trustee didn’t find any property that could be sold to repay creditors. The majority of Chapter 7 cases are no-asset cases.
Once your bankruptcy trustee files an NDR, the court usually closes the bankruptcy case shortly after the discharge has been entered. So this is an important step in the bankruptcy timeline.
This report can be filed either before or after your discharge is entered.
How Can I Tell if a Trustee Filed a No Distribution Report in My Case?
The only way to know for sure if a Report of No Distribution has been filed is by checking your case docket. The docket is a list of everything that’s been filed in your bankruptcy case. It includes court orders, trustee reports, and other official documents.
If you used Upsolve to file your case, you can check your docket in your my.upsolve.org account. You can also look it up on PACER, which is the federal court’s online system.
The NDR will usually show up a few weeks after your 341 meeting if everything goes as expected and the trustee doesn’t find any nonexempt property. The document will usually have a name like “Trustee’s Report of No Distribution” or something similar.
What Happens After the Trustee Files a No Distribution Report?
Once the trustee files the Report of No Distribution, they’re letting the court know they’ve finished their job. If you’ve already received your discharge, the court will usually close your case soon after.
At that point, there’s nothing more you need to do unless you hear otherwise. Your debts that can be discharged are officially wiped out, and your case is wrapped up. You should keep copies of your discharge order and other important documents for your records, but otherwise, you’re done.
Getting to this point in your case is a big deal. For many people, it marks a fresh start and a chance to move forward without the stress of overwhelming debt!
What Does the Report of No Distribution Say?
The typical NDR beings like this:
I, TRUSTEE NAME, having been appointed trustee of the estate of the above-named debtor(s), report that I have neither received any property nor paid any money on account of this estate; that I have made a diligent inquiry into the financial affairs of the debtor(s) and the location of the property belonging to the estate; and that there is no property available for distribution from the estate over and above that exempted by law. Pursuant to Fed R Bank P 5009, I hereby certify that the estate of the above-named debtor(s) has been fully administered. I request that I be discharged from any further duties as trustee. Then it provides some case-specific information from your schedules, like the amount of debt and value of assets. Sometimes the trustee files this report without "filling in the blanks" and it will show "$0 assets" or "$0 claims scheduled to be discharged" for example.
Keep in mind, this is just a report the trustee files and doesn't affect the discharge of your debts and doesn't even differentiate between dischargeable and non-dischargeable debts. So, don't panic if you see the trustee put a bunch of 00000s in your report. They probably had a reason. You'd know if something out of the ordinary was going on.
If the trustee determines that you have nonexempt assets, they will not file a NDR. Instead, they'll file a notice to give creditors a deadline to file a proof of claim in your case.
Why Do Some Cases Get a Trustee’s Report of No Distribution?
Most people who file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy don’t have any property the trustee can sell to pay back creditors.
This is called a no-asset case. When that happens, the trustee files a Report of No Distribution to let the court and creditors know there’s nothing to distribute.
This is very common. Many Chapter 7 filers are able to protect everything they own using either federal or state exemptions. Exemptions are laws that protect certain types of property — like household items, a car up to a certain value, or money in a checking account.
If everything you own is protected by exemptions, the trustee won’t take any of your property. That’s when they file a Report of No Distribution and your case moves toward closing.
What if the Trustee Doesn’t File a No Distribution Report?
If the trustee finds property that isn’t protected by exemptions, they won’t file a Report of No Distribution. Instead, they’ll start the process of collecting and selling that property to pay your creditors. This turns your case into what’s called an asset case.
In an asset case, the trustee will file a notice that tells creditors there may be money available. Creditors then have a deadline to file something called a proof of claim, which lets the trustee know they’re asking to be paid. The trustee will also let you know what’s happening and may ask for more information or documents.
If this happens, your case will probably stay open longer than a typical no-asset case. But it doesn’t mean you won’t get your discharge — that’s a separate part of the case. Many people still get a discharge even if the trustee is selling some property.
