The bankruptcy trustee is legally required to only charge a set fee. Can he also hire his own law firm and charge additional thousands of dollars?

A chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee does not get a set fee, in fact they get a percentage of everything you sell. They may also hire any professionals to help them with the liquidation of your assets such as legal representation, real estate professionals and auction companies. I'm not sure way you read about a federal limit on trustee compensation, because trustees only get paid about $65 per case they make their money by liquidating your property after they get a percentage of everything with liquidated after all bills are paid to the creditors. But this bill does not come out of your money, it comes out of the money from the assets that are liquidated so you won't be paying the trustee this, it's just part of the liquidation process in a chapter 7 bankruptcy for debtors who have assets or capital that are not exempt. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://fallriverbankruptcyattorney.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147