Recently I got an e-mail from one of our Chapter 13 trustees, asking that I express her condolences to my client on the death of his wife. That was very nice, but the problem is that this was news to me. My client called the Chapter 13 office to ask what he should do about some insurance issues, and never called me. A while back another client did the same thing when he got an offer to purchase his home. He said he didn’t want to bother me. And those are not the only examples.
My friend and colleage Peter Orville has written an excellent piece considering whether your Chapter 13 trustee is your friend. Our trustees loved the piece, because it does an excellent job of explaining the relationship between debtors, creditors, and the Chapter 13 trustee. In a nutshell, the trustee’s job is to look after the interests of your creditors, and your attorney’s job is to look after your interests. So, when something changes, when a problem arises, when a car is wrecked, a job is lost, you lose a loved one, or a new baby comes along, don’t call the trustee, call your attorney.