Once you submit your bankruptcy petition, the United States Department of Justice’s Trustee Program will appoint a bankruptcy trustee to work on your case. This individual will play a pivotal role throughout your upcoming case proceedings. Without any further introduction, please continue reading to learn the duties of a bankruptcy trustee and how an experienced Louisville, Kentucky Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer at Schwartz Bankruptcy Law Center can help mediate an efficient and peaceful working relationship between you two.
What are the duties of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee?
Mainly, your Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee is tasked with managing your bankruptcy estate’s assets. With this, they may also review the assets you claimed you can keep by law, and confirm that they are truly “exempt” from your bankruptcy estate. Plus, they may look into any of your recently transferred assets and potentially get them back to add to your bankruptcy estate. From here, your trustee is supposed to sell and liquidate these nonexempt assets as they see most appropriate. They may then take these funds and distribute them amongst your outstanding creditors.
In addition, the smaller assignments of your bankruptcy trustee may include the following:
- They may compare the information provided on your bankruptcy petition with your other financial records.
- They may conduct the 341 meeting of creditors and ask questions about the information provided on your bankruptcy petition.
- They may listen to your concerns about the 341 meeting or creditors or the bankruptcy process entirely.
Importantly, Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings take a quite different approach. With this, your bankruptcy trustee may be expected to take on alternate roles and responsibilities. So, if you are rather pursuing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, we encourage you to reach out to our firm to learn what to expect from this working relationship.
How does my bankruptcy trustee get paid?
Yes, while it is mandatory to have a bankruptcy trustee for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, it is also necessary to financially compensate them for their services. If your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is an “asset case,” meaning that your trustee sells and liquidates your nonexempt assets, you may be expected to pay them 25 percent worth of the first $5,000 disbursed; 10 percent worth of the next $45,000; five percent worth of the next $950,000; and three percent worth of anything else over $1,000,000. Of course, this is in addition to the initial $60 fee.
In turn, a “no asset case” may mean you only have to pay the initial $60 fee. But if your financial situation and current income still do not make this affordable, you may submit a waiver of trustee fees with the Kentucky bankruptcy court.
If you need legal advice urgently, please do not miss another opportunity to schedule an initial consultation with a skilled Louisville, Kentucky consumer bankruptcy attorney from Schwartz Bankruptcy Law Center. Contact our firm today.
