The Role of the Bankruptcy Trustee
The bankruptcy trustee is the designated representative of the bankruptcy estate who exercises statutory powers, principally for the benefit of the unsecured creditors, under the general supervision of the court and the direct supervision of the U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator.
The trustee is a private individual or corporation appointed in all chapter 7, chapter 12, and chapter 13 cases and some chapter 11 cases. The trustee’s responsibilities include reviewing the debtor’s petition and schedules and bringing actions against creditors or the debtor to recover property of the bankruptcy estate.
In chapter 7, the trustee liquidates any non-exempt property of the estate, and makes distributions to creditors. The chapter 7 trustee will examine the debtor’s pay advices and tax returns which are required to be submitted under the current law. The trustee will ask the debtor questions, under oath, to determine whether or not there are assets available for distribution. Trustees in chapter 12 and 13 have similar duties to a chapter 7 trustee and the additional responsibilities of overseeing the debtor’s plan, receiving payments from debtors, and disbursing plan payments to creditors.
