Trustee's objection to claim of exemption in chapter 7 bankruptcy and Trustee to employ counsel

I am very sorry to hear about your situation. In a situation where the trustee believes you have undervalued your assets and you do not have an exemption available to cover the assets, he/she will often arrange an appraisal. How the appraisal is done will depend on the property the appraiser needs to examine. In your case, with personal property, it is likely the appraiser will need to come to your home and look at your personal belongings (furniture, electronics, etc.) Depending on the amount of personal property you have, this usually should not take too long. As for the application to employ counsel, these fees are paid out of your bankruptcy estate (the property the trustee will sell that is not exempt) and not directly billed to you. If the judge believes 275 is too high as an hourly rate, the judge will not sign the order (although, that is unlikely as $275 is a fairly common rate in most cases).

Personal property listed on your bankruptcy schedule should be valued at current "Fair Market Value" that is what you can sell it for NOT what you paid for it. Except for items which hold their value such as antiques or jewelry, personal property should be listed at what it would bring at a yard sale. You suggest that you listed property which "exceed their entitlement" which means that you listed property in excess of the exemptions. This is a RED FLAG for the trustee. You need to get legal advice about what you are entitled to claim as exempt property.

I do hope you are represented by experienced bankruptcy counsel. Such an attorney would have explained to you that your filing for protection in bankruptcy requires you to cooperate with the trustee in all aspects of your case, including determining the accurate value of your assets. Typically, the trustee will require you to allow access to the asset(s) in question by a qualified appraiser and, depending on the nature of the asset, someone may indeed come to your home to look at what you own. The motion to employ counsel indicates that the trustee views the potentila for recovery of non-exempt assets to be substantial enough to justify the hiring or counsel. This cost is assumed by the trustee, but the trustee pays from the liquidation of assets recovered. You do not need to be concerned about the size of the hourly rate. If you do not already have an attorney that can explain all of this to you, your immediate move would be to find and retain one. Too much appears to be at stake to take your chances on your own. If you do not know a competent bankruptcy lawyer, use the attorney-finder at www.nacba.org. I am a longtime proud member of NACBA, and trust my FL colleagues to advise accurately and aggressively protect your rights. Best wishes for a favorable outcome, and please remember to designate a best answer.