A trustee is a person appointed by the court to administer your bankruptcy case. They review your bankruptcy filing to make sure it is truthful and that there is no fraud involved. If the trustee suspects fraud, they can request more information and even take legal action to dismiss your bankruptcy. If you wish to discuss legal actions regarding your bankruptcy consider connecting with a bankruptcy lawyer such as Cain & Herren, ALC
The trustee also examines your finances and assets. They search for any property that could be liquidated to pay off creditors. In Chapter 7 bankruptcies, trustees often seize assets that aren’t exempt and sell them to pay your creditors. However, many debtors are able to keep all of their property in Chapter 7 cases.
Trustees also evaluate payments and property transfers made to creditors before you filed for bankruptcy protection. A trustee can recover some of these payments and property transfers, especially if they occurred within 90 days before your bankruptcy and if the amounts involved are high enough.
In addition to looking at your assets, a trustee will evaluate how you managed your debts. The trustee will look at whether or not you paid all of your unsecured debts and any secured debts (such as car loans or mortgages). If the trustee finds that you paid some of your unsecured debts and shortchanged other creditors, they may report this to the court.
As well, the trustee will also investigate lien rights. For example, if you bought a home or vehicle with a secured loan, the lender will have a lien on the title of the property. This means that if you try to sell the property, you will have to pay back the lender before you can transfer the title to another person. The trustee will also look into your tax returns and other financial records to see if you have any suspicious activity.
The trustee will also hold a creditors’ meeting to determine whether or not you have any non-exempt assets that could be sold for the benefit of your creditors. If you’re not able to agree on an amount to settle your debts, the trustee can request that you be put into a creditors’ committee and you will have to answer questions from the creditors at the committee meeting.
A trustee can also raise objections to certain exemptions and file motions, but the final decision maker in a bankruptcy case is usually a judge. If you disagree with a trustee’s decision, you can appeal the decision by asking the court to overturn it.
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