
After hearing so many debtors at the meeting of creditors address their trustee as, “Your Honor,” we need to set the record straight. The trustee is not a judge, nor is the trustee a judicial hearing officer. Do not call the trustee, “Your Honor.”
I usually tell my clients about this in advance of their hearing, but I see so many clients of other attorneys address the trustee with more respect than the trustee deserves.
Only judges should be referred to as, “Your Honor”; not trustees.
Interestingly, many of the trustees do not correct the debtor when so addressed, although some certainly do.
Judges have come a long way to ascend the bench and deservingly warrant a certain degree of respect. Chapter 7 Trustees, on the other hand, are simply bankruptcy attorneys who have sought to be placed on the panel of trustees. There are nine Chapter 7 trustees on Long Island. There are two Chapter 13 trustees. See What Is a Bankruptcy Trustee? [1]
For a list of all Long Island bankruptcy trustees, please see my earlier post Long Island Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees [2]or Brooklyn Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees [3].
Although all New York trustees are bankruptcy attorneys, in some other parts of the country, there are non-attorney trustees.
So when addressing the trustee, simply call them by their name: “Mr. Smith”, for example.