NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Christian Reusch, Øystein Nore Nyhus, Therese Sætre Løfsgaard and Oda Lauksund Engamo, Simonsen Vogt Wiig
file a petition for bankruptcy with the local district court. This is provided that the claimant’s claim is not adequately secured with a mortgage over one/ more of the debtor’s assets. A “nothing to restrain” decision obtained against the debtor within the last three months before the petition for bankruptcy would be regarded as a presumption of insolvency, mean - ing that the debtor bears the burden of proving their solvency. To enforce a domestic judgment in Norway against a debtor that is presumed to be insolvent, the following procedure generally applies. • The first step – a petition for bankruptcy is sent to the local district court. The petitioning credi - tor would also have to provide some security for the estate’s expenses (currently approximately NOK60,000), which may be recovered if there are sufficient means in the bankruptcy estate. The court will then assess the conditions of the subject insolvency and decide on whether to commence bankruptcy proceedings. • The second step – if the court decides to com - mence bankruptcy proceedings, the administrator of the estate will be nominated shortly after the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, and all creditors are given a deadline to register their respective claims while the administrator searches for assets. • The third step – in principle, the administrator of the estate will then decide whether to accept or dispute the claim. Provided that the judgment (to be enforced by way of filing for bankruptcy) was rendered before the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, the estate is bound by the relevant judgment. • The fourth step – provided that the debtor has assets feasible for recovery purposes, the admin - istrator will handle the recovery/sales process and calculate and pay out a dividend to all creditors that have registered their claim and been accepted by the administrator. In the case of insolvency, a lien obtained less than three months prior to bankruptcy will not be bind - ing for the bankruptcy estate. Even so, it might be worth pursuing an enforcement proceeding despite the debtor being insolvent to get a lien earlier than three months before any of the other creditors – or
the debtor themselves – petitions for bankruptcy. After three months, the lien will usually form sufficient secu - rity, also in bankruptcy. 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments The length of enforcement proceedings depends on the workload of the local enforcement office and on what (if any) objections the defendant makes to the enforcement proceedings. In general, an execution lien can be obtained within a few months from the request being sent to the court, and an enforcement of the lien can be obtained a few months after the execution lien was obtained. Typically, there are no substantial costs payable in connection with the application. The claimant needs to pay a fee to the court or the local enforcement office ranging from NOK906.66 to NOK5,387.40, depending on the type of enforcement and whether the enforce - ment has to be granted by the local enforcement office or the district court. If legal counsel is engaged for investigations, the drafting of papers, etc, additional fees will be incurred. Such fees vary, depending on the type of engage - ment, enforcement, and so on. The court fee and other necessary costs related to the enforcement may be retrieved from the defendant. Finally, an execution lien alone will often result in a voluntary settlement of the claim, meaning there is no need for the second step as listed in 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments . The enforcement office has the authority to order the defendant to disclose information about the assets the defendant holds and the location thereof. The enforcement office will also have access to a variety of registers over the defendant’s holdings. 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments A defendant may only challenge the enforcement of domestic judgments on the grounds that the judgment 2.4 Post-Judgment Procedures for Determining Defendants’ Assets
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