The bankruptcy trustee is a person assigned to your case to review your petition, statements and schedules and compare them to various source documents for accuracy. A trustee's job is to administer your case, prevent fraud, and to collect assets and distribute money to your creditors.
There is always a trustee assigned to your case in chapter 7 and chapter 13.
In a chapter 11, you may serve as your own trustee.
The trustee presides over your meeting of creditors, which is usually held about four to eight weeks after your case is filed. At that meeting, you are required to appear with picture id and original proof of your social security number, usually a social security card. Its rare for creditors to actually appear at this meeting.
The trustee will also as you a variety of questions. The questions can vary depending on the trustee, but they usually ask the same base questions.
Have you taken the oath I administered?
How long have you lived in this jurisdiction/state?
Have you ever filed bankruptcy before? If so, when and where.
Have you ever filed a bankruptcy using a different name or social security number?
Did you read your petition, statements and schedules?
Did you sign your petiton, statements and schedules?
Was the information in your petiton, statements and schedules true and correct?
Did you list all of your assets?
Did you list all of your debts?
Do you owe child support or spousal maintenance to anyone?
Have you repaid any family member loans in the year prior to filing your case?
Did you receive a tax refund in the last tax cycle, and if so, how much and what did you do with it?
Are you expecting to receive a tax refund this next tax season?
