Letter to an ABC assignee: templates to introduce a records review

A letter to an ABC assignee should be short and factual: name the company, explain that SourceX could review whether its operational records can be licensed, note that nothing binds the estate until it signs, list the few facts needed to qualify, and disclose any referral relationship. The same structure works for a chapter 7 trustee, receiver or their counsel.

When to write to an assignee, trustee or receiver

Write as soon as you learn that a company with years of operational records has entered an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC), a chapter 7 case or a receivership. From that point the former owner usually cannot authorize anything. The fiduciary controls the assets, and a records review only moves if that person, or their counsel, agrees to look at it.

In an ABC, the company transfers its assets to an assignee who holds them in trust, liquidates them and pays creditors from the proceeds, as this open textbook chapter on alternatives to bankruptcy explains. ABCs run under state law, and procedure differs by state: Florida's chapter 727, for example, places the process under circuit court supervision and sets claim priorities and a final report. Your letter should not assume any of those mechanics. It only needs to give the fiduciary enough to decide whether a review deserves an hour of their time.

Timing matters more than polish. Fiduciaries often cut software subscriptions, return leased laptops and stop paying cloud bills early, because each one is a recurring cost to the estate. A plain letter that arrives before those decisions beats a perfect one that arrives after. If you are still helping the company pick its fiduciary, the questions in how to choose an ABC assignee let you raise records before the assignment is signed.

What SourceX needs to qualify an estate

The fiduciary sends answers, not records. These are the facts SourceX uses to decide whether a review can go ahead.

What to ask for	Why it matters	Where the fiduciary usually finds it
Peak full-time headcount, contractors excluded	The baseline is 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), so a shrunken final headcount does not rule a company out	Payroll registers and prior payroll filings
Years of documented operations	Several years of history is part of the baseline, and longer histories help	Formation documents, the oldest files in the shared drive or ledger
Systems that still exist	Strong companies keep records across 10-15+ systems: email, chat, drives, CRM, finance, support and engineering	SaaS invoices, the IT provider's asset list, admin consoles
Who can still run exports	Records nobody can export cannot be licensed	Former IT staff, the managed service provider, admins on a short retention arrangement
Contract and privacy limits	The estate needs the right to license what it holds; material owned by clients is excluded without their consent	Customer master agreements, the privacy policy, NDAs, the employee handbook
Signing authority and approvals	Nothing binds the estate until it agrees price and terms and signs, and some estates need further approval first	The assignment agreement, the appointment order, counsel
Any pending sale process	A license has to fit around an asset sale, not compete with it	Bid procedures, draft asset purchase agreements

The fiduciary can run a preliminary, non-binding screen with the company fit checker, which asks for no contact details, and the full baseline is on who qualifies.

Template 1: first email to an ABC assignee

Use this when you know the assignee, or can reach them through the company's former counsel or CFO. Replace everything in braces.

Subject: {Company} records: one question before systems are shut down Dear {Assignee name}, I advised {Company} as its {your role} until {month and year}. Before the estate cancels the company's software accounts, I wanted to flag one possible asset: its operational records, including {two or three systems you know existed, such as the ticketing system, shared drives and CRM}, covering roughly {years} years of work. Some companies license records like these through SourceX to AI developers, for a one-time payment under an exclusive AI-training license. The estate would keep ownership and set price and terms itself, nothing would bind it until it signed, and no data would be delivered without an executed agreement and the estate's authorization. To see whether {Company} qualifies, SourceX would need a few facts: peak full-time headcount, years of operations, which systems still exist and who can export them, and any contract or privacy limits you know of. I can introduce you to SourceX directly, or you can start at sourcex.si/apply. I have not seen or kept any of the company's records. {Disclosure paragraph, below} {Your name}, {firm}, {phone}

Template 2: a chapter 7 trustee or the trustee's counsel

Chapter 7 trustees carry many cases and prioritize assets they can realize. Lead with facts about the debtor, not with the idea of AI.

For background the trustee's team may want, overlooked intangible assets in chapter 7 shows where records sit among other intangibles.

Template 3: a court-appointed receiver

A receiver's powers come from the appointment order, so ask about scope rather than assuming it. If you are unsure which structure applies, ABC vs receivership sets out how control and asset sales differ.

The referral disclosure paragraph

Fiduciaries act for creditors, so tell them plainly about any referral relationship. Paste this into every version:

If the estate has retained you, or your fees need court approval, talk to counsel before registering: your engagement terms and the court's disclosure requirements may restrict outside compensation or require it to be put on the record. Licensed professionals should also check their own rules on referral fees and disclosure.

How to personalize each template

Recipient	Lead with	Add if you know it	Leave out
ABC assignee	What is about to be cancelled, and when	The IT provider's name and contract end date	Any view on what creditors will recover
Assignee's counsel	Authority and process: who signs, what is binding	Known contract or privacy restrictions	Legal conclusions about consent or approval
Chapter 7 trustee	Peak headcount and years of operations	Where devices and credentials are now	Speculation about value
Receiver	The scope of the appointment order	Whether the systems are still being paid for	Requests to access systems yourself
Former CFO or CEO, copied	Thanks and context	Which systems they relied on most	Any request that they export files

Follow-up timing

Day 0: send the letter with the disclosure paragraph.
Days 3 to 5: send one short follow-up that adds a single new fact, such as which system's contract renews next.
Before the next known cancellation date: ask whether the estate wants exports kept while it decides, even if it is not ready to talk about licensing.
After that, stop. If the fiduciary declines, note the date and move on. If their question is about how creditors would share any proceeds, point them to who gets the money from a data license in a bankruptcy or ABC.

What never to put in the letter

An estimate of value, a price range or a prediction of what creditors will receive.
Any typed reward amount or percentage, or a promise that anyone will be paid.
Sample files, screenshots, exports or descriptions of confidential content. Partners never export, upload or describe confidential records.
A view on whether employee email or chat can lawfully be licensed. That belongs to the estate's counsel; licensing employee emails after a company closes frames the issues.
Names of AI companies as likely buyers.
Pressure. A fiduciary who feels rushed will say no.

Pre-send checklist

The recipient controls the assets, or is counsel to the person who does
As far as you know, the company had 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded)
You named real systems, not guesses about what they contain
The disclosure paragraph is included
No values, figures or records are attached
You have checked your own engagement terms and professional rules

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel before writing to a fiduciary in an active case.

Next step

Register as a partner so your referral link is ready before you write, then send the letter while the company's systems still exist.

Step 1Share your linkSend your personal link to a company you know.
Step 2Company appliesThe company applies itself at /apply.
Step 3Buyer selects and paysThe buyer selects and pays for the data and SourceX receives its fee.
Step 4You get your rewardYour share of SourceX fees becomes payable.

Common questions

Should I write to the assignee or to the assignee's counsel?

Write to whoever you already have a relationship with, and copy counsel if you know who it is. Assignees often pass authority and approval questions to their lawyers anyway. Keep the wording identical in both directions so nobody receives a different account of what SourceX does, what it needs, or how your referral relationship works.

Can the former owner sign a data license after an ABC?

Usually not. In an assignment for the benefit of creditors the company transfers its assets to the assignee, who holds them in trust for creditors, so the assignee is the person who would decide on a license. The former owner can still help by explaining which systems existed and who ran them. Counsel should confirm authority under the relevant state's law.

What if the assignee has already cancelled the software accounts?

Ask whether any exports, backups or devices were kept, and whether the vendor still holds the data under its own terms, which vary by product. If nothing survives and nobody can export what remains, the company does not qualify, because licensing needs records that still exist. If partial archives survive, SourceX can assess whether they are deep enough.

Do I need to disclose the referral relationship if the estate has not retained me?

Yes, as a matter of good practice. A fiduciary acts for creditors and should know about any compensation connected to a suggestion you make. Disclosure costs nothing because the reward is a share of SourceX's own fee and never reduces what the estate receives. If you are retained by the estate, check your engagement terms and court rules as well.

How much should the letter say about what the records contain?

Name the systems and the years they cover, and stop there. Partners never describe confidential content, attach samples or summarize what is inside a mailbox or ticket queue. The data inventory, rights review and any redaction rules are handled later between SourceX and the fiduciary, after the estate decides it wants to proceed.

Free resources

Business succession planning assessment — Ten questions on successor, transition and documentation.
NPV calculator — Net present value with a discounted cash flow table.
Time value of money calculator — Future and present value with optional regular payments.
All free tools · MCP resource center

By SourceX Partnerships Team · Published 2026-10-09 · Updated 2026-10-09

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