The court shall, upon an application for that purpose, order any officer of such corporation, or any other person having possession of any of the effects, books, or papers of the corporation in any wise necessary for the settlement of its affairs, to deliver up the same to the trustees.
§ 25-21,140.Dissolved corporation; books, papers, effects; delivery to trustees; enforcement.
Article 21: Special Proceedings and Actions · Not amended since original codification · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section empowers the court, on application, to order any officer of the dissolved corporation or anyone else holding its effects, books, or papers needed to settle its affairs to hand them over to the trustees.
Full Text of § 25-21,140
Source
R.S.1867, Code § 723, p. 519; R.S.1913, § 8347; C.S.1922, § 9299; C.S.1929, § 20-21,131; R.S.1943, § 25-21,140.
Plain-English Summary
Trustees cannot collect debts or divide a surplus for people they cannot identify, using records they cannot reach. Section 25-21,140 gives them a way to get those records. Upon an application for that purpose, the court orders any officer of the corporation, or any other person holding any of its effects, books, or papers necessary to settle its affairs, to deliver them up to the trustees.
The reach of this section extends beyond the corporation’s own former officers. Anyone in possession of relevant effects, books, or papers can be ordered to turn them over, closing off an obvious way that records might otherwise go missing or sit with a third party beyond the trustees’ informal reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can be ordered to hand over corporate records under this section?
Any officer of the dissolved corporation, or any other person holding effects, books, or papers necessary to settle its affairs.
How does the trustee get this kind of order?
By making an application to the court for that purpose.
Does this section only cover records, or does it reach other property too?
It covers effects as well as books and papers, so it is not limited to paperwork alone.
What if a former officer refuses to comply with the court’s order?
Section 25-21,144 treats disobedience of an order made under this article as contempt of court, carrying fines and imprisonment.
Why would someone other than a former officer hold relevant corporate records?
The statute anticipates that records or effects necessary to settle the corporation’s affairs might end up with someone besides its own officers, and reaches that person as well.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: delivering corporate records to trusteescourt order to surrender corporate bookstrustee application for recordsformer officer withholding papersenforcement over a dissolved corporation