Supplementary distribution (§ 203 InsO)

After the final distribution is carried out, the court closes the insolvency proceeding under § 200 InsO. If further assets belonging to the estate are subsequently discovered or become available — for example a previously withheld amount is released, a claim is collected late, or an avoidance action is only concluded successfully after the proceeding has ended — the court orders a supplementary distribution under § 203 InsO, on the (former) administrator's application or of its own motion. The administrator's office is revived just for that specific distribution act.

Common triggers in practice: a purchase-price retention agreed in the sale contract that is only paid out after a warranty or limitation period expires; late-arriving tax refunds; or proceeds from an avoidance claim that was not yet legally final when the proceeding closed.

For buyers, supplementary distribution matters in two situations: first, with an agreed purchase-price retention or earn-out payable to the estate — once it falls due after formal closure, it does not flow informally to individual creditors but through the orderly supplementary distribution, meaning the (re-appointed) administrator remains the correct counterpart even after closure. Second, if a previously overlooked asset that should have belonged to the estate surfaces after closing, the buyer should expect a recovery claim via supplementary distribution rather than being able to simply keep it.