Cite as: 530 U. S. 1 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
trustee's role as representative of the estate with respect to the initiation of certain types of litigation that belong exclusively to the estate").
III
Because we believe that by far the most natural reading of § 506(c) is that it extends only to the trustee, petitioner's burden of persuading us that the section must be read to allow its use by other parties is " 'exceptionally heavy.' " Patterson v. Shumate, 504 U. S. 753, 760 (1992) (quoting Union Bank v. Wolas, 502 U. S. 151, 156 (1991)). To support its proffered reading, petitioner advances arguments based on pre-Code practice and policy considerations. We address these arguments in turn.
A
Section 506(c)'s provision for the charge of certain administrative expenses against lienholders continues a practice that existed under the Bankruptcy Act of 1898, see, e. g., In re Tyne, 257 F. 2d 310, 312 (CA7 1958); 4 Collier on Bankruptcy, supra, ¶ 506.05[1]. It was not to be found in the text of the Act, but traced its origin to early cases establishing an equitable principle that where a court has custody of property, costs of administering and preserving the property are a dominant charge, see, e. g., Bronson v. La Crosse & Milwaukee R. Co., 1 Wall. 405, 410 (1864); Atlantic Trust Co. v. Chapman, 208 U. S. 360, 376 (1908). It was the norm that recovery of costs from a secured creditor would be sought by the trustee, see, e. g., Textile Banking Co. v. Widener, 265 F. 2d 446, 453-454 (CA4 1959); Tyne, supra, at 312. Petitioner cites a number of lower court cases, however, in which—without meaningful discussion of the point— parties other than the trustee were permitted to pursue such charges under the Act, sometimes simultaneously with the trustee's pursuit of his own expenses, see, e. g., First Western Savings and Loan Assn. v. Anderson, 252 F. 2d 544, 547-548 (CA9 1958); In re Louisville Storage Co., 21 F. Supp. 897, 898
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