Trustee - Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Click the Source you feel would help the most.

A trustee, usually a lawyer and an expert in bankruptcy cases, is appointed by the bankruptcy court to administer the assets of t he debtor. He examines the petition filed by the debtor and determines whether or not he has any assets that are not protected under chapter 7. If the debtor is found to possess any property that can be sold, it is not exempted. The trustee, however, exempts property which is mortgaged against secured loans, such as a car or a home.

If you file for bankruptcy and your petition is admitted under chapter 7, the court will appoint a trustee for you. The job of the trustee is to evaluate your property and extract as much as is economically feasible. Based on the assessment done by the trustee, if the court feels that you do not have the assets to repay your debts, your liabilities to your creditors are written off.

A month after you have filed your petition, the trustee, on the basis of his assessments, convenes a meeting between you and your creditors. It is mandatory for the trustee to convene this meeting. Yet in meetings such as these, the creditors do not usually turn up because they are already aware of the financial position of the debtors and so for them this simply means a waste of time. Those who do show up try to seek more explanation or information about your assets and other possible sources of your income, which you may not have for some reason provided in your petition.

Once the trustee submits the report of your disposable assets, the court examines the accuracy of the details filed in your application. The court also requires facts such as if you anticipate any more income, for example, from your tax returns. The trustee will also ask you questions about your recent purchases. It is part of his duty to verify the authenticity of the claims that you have made in your petition. For example, you may have presented your property as undervalued, in which case, the trustee will examine how you arrived at that particular figure. Once the court is satisfied that you cannot pay your unsecured debts, it declares your debts as discharged. Duties of Trustees

Filing - Chapter 7