From the questions I answer from clients in my office and netizens on Lawyers.com, lots of people think that bankruptcy trustees are the last word in the bankruptcy world. Not so: the trustee is an interested party, generally tasked with representing the creditors as a group and ensuring that bankruptcy cases comply with the law.

But if a dispute arises, say about the allowance of an exemption or the application of the means test, and the debtor and the trustee can’t resolve the difference, it is the bankruptcy judge who makes the call.