(1) Ordinarily, secured creditors are paid out of their collateral.

(2) Unsecured priority claimants receive distribution ahead of the general unsecured creditors.

(3) If there is not enough money to pay all claims at a particular level, claimants within that level take a pro rata share.

(4) Liens for certain kinds of penalties can be avoided by the trustee, and tax liens are subject to subordination

(5) Special rules apply to partnership debtors when there are insufficient assets to pay all the claims against the partnership. Questions arise as to whether the debtor should receive a discharge under Chapter 7. Look for any of the ten grounds for denial of a discharge (e.g., the debtor is not an individual, or she transferred property with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor). If the facts do not show any of the grounds for denial, a discharge must be granted, although under appropriate circumstances, a discharge may be revoked. Finally keep in mind that the debtor may convert a Chapter 7 case to Chapter 11, 12, or 13 if the case has not been converted earlier and the debtor is eligible under the other chapter. Also, the court may dismiss a case for cause or if a consumer debtor has substantially abused Chapter 7 relief.

(6) In a consumer bankruptcy Chapter 7 debtors often avoid the liquidation of assets because of personal property exemptions available for individual non-business filers, however no attorney can guarantee how a particular trustee will carry out his duties. Our statements to clients as to what a trustee may do with a particular piece of property are our best professional estimates only. The actual decision is the trustee's alone, in the exercise of  the "business judgment" rule. If you have non-exempt property and are going into a Chapter 7, whether or not the trustee will liquidate the property depends on who the trustee is, what jurisdiction the case is in and the equities of your case.

(7) The equities of your case depend on a variety of morality considerations that  a professional bankruptcy attorney can help evaluate. For instance, if you have various properties that are worth more than the exemption amount it is more likely that the trustee will force you to buy back the property from the bankruptcy estate or surrender it. This is particularly true where you also have income sufficient to repay some of your debt in a chapter 13 plan. While as a struggling student who's been largely unemployed for years and owns a $3,000 vehicle is likely to keep the vehicle in spite of the exemption amount of $2,400.00, Someone who is better situated, owns numerous items of personal property that are non-exempt or partially exempt, and has a decent income will most likely run into of the trustee's liquidation powers. Trustees may also be sensitive to the amount of fees that you have paid your attorney, which must be disclosed in the attorneys 1019 statement. A middle income or better debtor filing a Chapter 7 is generally expected to pay a fee commensurate with an understanding of the complexities of the bankruptcy laws and the advantage which the bankruptcy offers. When people who have the ability to pay a standard fee hire an attorney for $500.00 or less, they are more likely to run afoul of the bankruptcy trustees discretion, as system insiders generally consider middle income price choppers to be disrespectful to the bankruptcy court itself. This is not a rule that you'll find written on the books anywhere, but experience demonstrates that clients that have paid a $750.00 fee retainer to our office have often received a favorably stretched interpretation of the chapter 7 standards from trustees, while as similarly situated individuals who have held us to telephone solicitations for cheap deals often don't seem to make out as well. This is a factor that's hard to quantify, but to realize that almost all trustees are also bankruptcy attorney's themselves and may have strong negative feelings about forced to accept cases for reduced fees in their own practice, that may carry over into other cases.

 Trustee's claims against partners