The United States Trustee (UST) is part of the Department of Justice and is responsible for monitoring for abuse of the bankruptcy system (by debtors and creditors).

The United States Trustee reviews all bankruptcy cases, but usually doesn’t do anything in most consumer Chapter 7 and 13 cases. The two times you may see the UST become involved in your case would be if there are means test issues (e.g. the means test shows abuse, means test income doesn’t match current income, unusual deductions on the means test, etc.). These kinds of issues can normally be spotted before filing, so your attorney should be able to warn you ahead of time.

The other time you might see the UST would be in Chapter 7 cases where the UST feels there is some kind of abuse or fraud. So if you have undisclosed assets, the UST will investigate. If you ran up your unsecured debt just before filing, have unusually high expenses or had a sudden change in income, the Trustee will investigate.

The United States Trustee, like the panel trustee is a party in your bankruptcy case, but not the ultimate decider. That is the role of the judge.

For more U terms:
U.S. Trustee-Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska Bankruptcy Attorney, Ryan D. Caldwell
Underwater-Jay Fleischman, bankruptcy attorney in New York City
Unsecured-Cathy Moran, Bay Area Bankruptcy Lawyer
Underwater-Metro Richmond Consumer and Bankruptcy Attorney, Mitchell Goldstein
Unsecured-Cathy Moran, Bay Area Bankruptcy Lawyer
Upside-Down Vehicles-Wisconsin Bankruptcy Lawyer, Bret Nason
Unlisted Asset-Allen Park, Michigan bankruptcy lawyer, Christopher McAvoy