Trustee in bankruptcy (kurator)
Also known as trustee, insolvency practitioner, estate administrator, bobestyrer
The kurator is the lawyer appointed by the bankruptcy court (skifteretten) to administer a bankruptcy estate, realise the assets and distribute the proceeds.
- Appointed by
- The bankruptcy court
- Fee is paid
- Before the creditors
In practice
The trustee does not work for you. He works for the estate — that is, for the creditors collectively — and his fee is paid out of the estate’s funds before any of you sees a krone.
That is worth understanding when you assess your chances: in an estate with few assets, the money goes to the costs of the estate and the trustee’s fee, and the unsecured creditors get nothing.
The trustee does, however, have one duty that can work in your favour: he must examine whether any transactions in the run-up to the bankruptcy can be avoided and clawed back.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- You expect the trustee to pursue your particular interest. File the claim, document it and follow the case — but do not count on being phoned.
- The claim is filed without documentation. Invoice, contract basis and a statement of interest and fees have to be there — the trustee rejects what cannot be verified.
- You wait to hear from the trustee. The bankruptcy is published in the state gazette, and the deadlines run whether or not anyone has called.