Delaware 153rd General Assembly Status: Enacted 1 D cosponsors

SB 267 — Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act/Adopt/ULC

Last action — Signed

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 11, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Matt Meyer (Democratic) on June 11, 2026.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 72% · moderate confidence
  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

This Act adopts a standardized process for businesses to assign their assets to creditors when distressed.

The bill standardizes the process for businesses in financial distress to liquidate assets through a uniform assignment for benefit of creditors (ABC). It aims to make this process more efficient and clear, facilitating better outcomes for creditors and businesses alike.

What this means for you
  • Workers: This means that if a business where you work faces financial distress, there may be a more organized process for asset liquidation.
  • Small Business: This provides small businesses with a clearer and potentially less costly option to handle financial difficulties.

Summary

With only minor modifications consistent with Delaware law and practice, this Act adopts the Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act (the “Uniform Act”), authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Uniform Act was approved by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2025 and, as of March 2026, has been enacted in Nebraska and Utah and introduced in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, and Oklahoma. Because this Act adopts the Uniform Act with only minor modifications, the “Comments” to the Uniform Act may be deemed to be persuasive authority in interpreting this Act; provided, however, that the second and third sentences of the Comment to Section 2 of the Uniform Act shall instead be deemed to read as follows: “If an asset is not assignable by its terms or under other law, that asset is not part of the assignment estate unless either any required consent is obtained or other law overrides the anti-assignment provision. This Uniform Act does not preclude the assignee from negotiating with any person whose consent is required for an assignment to obtain its consent for the assignment of an asset.” This Act provides for the use of an assignment for benefit of creditors (an “ABC”), which is an efficient and flexible state law mechanism to wind up a distressed business. Although the use of an ABC to liquidate the assets of a failing business is rooted in the common law, the various states have significant differences in their statutes or common law of ABCs and Delaware’s statute has few details, was enacted many decades ago, and has not subsequently been revised. This inconsistency and lack of detail leads to significant variance throughout the country in the utility of ABCs and the frequency with which ABCs are used. This Act addresses this gap in the law by cementing the common law in statute and providing updates that modernize the law and provide clarity to assignors, assignees, and creditors alike. In an ABC, a financially distressed business, called an “assignor,” transfers control of all of its assets to an “assignee,” who acts as a fiduciary for the business’s creditors. The assignee liquidates the business’s assets and distributes the proceeds to the business’s creditors. These proceeds go towards payment of the creditors’ claims against the assignor. This Act creates a state law alternative to other procedures available to the assignor for winding up its business and provides benefits that are not available through a federal bankruptcy case or a state or federal law receivership. In many cases, an ABC will be more flexible, quicker, and less costly than the other alternatives. An ABC may be an improvement on these alternatives in certain situations in significant ways: (1) it is debtor-initiated; (2) it provides assurances to creditors by imposing fiduciary duties upon the assignee; (3) it aims to maximize the value of the business’s assets for the benefit of all creditors; and (4) it encourages cooperation between the distressed business and the creditors by aligning these parties’ goals. This Act’s roadmap for ABCs clearly establishes: (1) The persons eligible to be assignors and the qualifications for assignees; (2) The relationship between an ABC under this Act and existing federal and state statutes, including the Bankruptcy Code; (3) The contents of the assignment agreement; (4) The effect of an ABC on the assignor’s property interests and the procedure for conveying those assets to the assignee; (5) Procedures for notifying creditors of the ABC and the implications of the opt-out decision; (6) Duties and powers of the assignor and assignee, including limitations on liability; (7) A process for allowing and disputing claims; (8) A waterfall for the distribution of proceeds to secured and unsecured creditors and payment of expenses incurred by the assignee; (9) Procedures for winding up the assignment estate; (10) The extent of recognition of out-of-state transactions and appointment of an ancillary assignee for administration of out-of-state assets; and (11) That a conveyance by an assignor or assignee for the benefit of the assignor’s creditors under this Act is not subject to this State’s realty transfer tax. This Act is intended to replace Delaware’s current ABC law, resulting in the repeal of the current law under Sections 2 through 8 of this Act and provision, under Section 9 of this Act, for the continued application of the current law for existing ABCs made before the effective date of this Act.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read SB 267 on the official Delaware source →

Action History

  1. Signed

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 61 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (61)

61 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 61 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SM

Passed 31 Yea · 0 Nay · 10 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 7007
Democratic 24003
Total 310010
% of votes cast 76%0%0%24%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Alonna Berry Democratic Yea
Claire Snyder-Hall Democratic Yea
Cyndie Romer Democratic Yea
DeShanna U Neal Democratic Not Voting
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Eric Morrison Democratic Not Voting
Frank Burns Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Josue O Ortega Democratic Yea
Kamela T Smith Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kerri Evelyn Harris Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Yea
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Yea
Mara Gorman Democratic Yea
Melanie Ross Levin Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Sherae'a Moore Democratic Yea
Sophie Phillips Democratic Not Voting
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Yea
Daniel B. Short Republican Not Voting
Jeff Hilovsky Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Not Voting
Kevin S Hensley Republican Not Voting
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Not Voting
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Not Voting
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Shannon Morris Republican Not Voting
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Not Voting
Valerie Jones Giltner Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 21 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 15000
Republican 6000
Total 21000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Daniel Cruce Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Kyra L. Hoffner Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
Ray Seigfried Democratic Yea
Russell Huxtable Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Eric Buckson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 267 do?
With only minor modifications consistent with Delaware law and practice, this Act adopts the Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act (the “Uniform Act”), authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Uniform Act was approved by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2025 and, as of March 2026, has been enacted in Nebraska and Utah and introduced in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, and Oklahoma. Because this Act adopts the Uniform Act with only minor modifications, the “Comments” to the Uniform Act may be deemed to be persuasive authority in interpreting this Act; provided, however, that the second and third sentences of the Comment to Section 2 of the Uniform Act shall instead be deemed to read as follows: “If an asset is not assignable by its terms or under other law, that asset is not part of the assignment estate unless either any required consent is obtained or other law overrides the anti-assignment provision. This Uniform Act does not preclude the assignee from negotiating with any person whose consent is required for an assignment to obtain its consent for the assignment of an asset.” This Act provides for the use of an assignment for benefit of creditors (an “ABC”), which is an efficient and flexible state law mechanism to wind up a distressed business. Although the use of an ABC to liquidate the assets of a failing business is rooted in the common law, the various states have significant differences in their statutes or common law of ABCs and Delaware’s statute has few details, was enacted many decades ago, and has not subsequently been revised. This inconsistency and lack of detail leads to significant variance throughout the country in the utility of ABCs and the frequency with which ABCs are used. This Act addresses this gap in the law by cementing the common law in statute and providing updates that modernize the law and provide clarity to assignors, assignees, and creditors alike. In an ABC, a financially distressed business, called an “assignor,” transfers control of all of its assets to an “assignee,” who acts as a fiduciary for the business’s creditors. The assignee liquidates the business’s assets and distributes the proceeds to the business’s creditors. These proceeds go towards payment of the creditors’ claims against the assignor. This Act creates a state law alternative to other procedures available to the assignor for winding up its business and provides benefits that are not available through a federal bankruptcy case or a state or federal law receivership. In many cases, an ABC will be more flexible, quicker, and less costly than the other alternatives. An ABC may be an improvement on these alternatives in certain situations in significant ways: (1) it is debtor-initiated; (2) it provides assurances to creditors by imposing fiduciary duties upon the assignee; (3) it aims to maximize the value of the business’s assets for the benefit of all creditors; and (4) it encourages cooperation between the distressed business and the creditors by aligning these parties’ goals. This Act’s roadmap for ABCs clearly establishes: (1) The persons eligible to be assignors and the qualifications for assignees; (2) The relationship between an ABC under this Act and existing federal and state statutes, including the Bankruptcy Code; (3) The contents of the assignment agreement; (4) The effect of an ABC on the assignor’s property interests and the procedure for conveying those assets to the assignee; (5) Procedures for notifying creditors of the ABC and the implications of the opt-out decision; (6) Duties and powers of the assignor and assignee, including limitations on liability; (7) A process for allowing and disputing claims; (8) A waterfall for the distribution of proceeds to secured and unsecured creditors and payment of expenses incurred by the assignee; (9) Procedures for winding up the assignment estate; (10) The extent of recognition of out-of-state transactions and appointment of an ancillary assignee for administration of out-of-state assets; and (11) That a conveyance by an assignor or assignee for the benefit of the assignor’s creditors under this Act is not subject to this State’s realty transfer tax. This Act is intended to replace Delaware’s current ABC law, resulting in the repeal of the current law under Sections 2 through 8 of this Act and provision, under Section 9 of this Act, for the continued application of the current law for existing ABCs made before the effective date of this Act.
Who sponsors SB 267?
SB 267 is sponsored by Darius J. Brown (Democratic).
What is the current status of SB 267?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 11, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 267?
Track SB 267 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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