Legal right. . . Trustee only gets enough to pay off all filed claims and the administrative expenses of running the bk estate. If he collects more the surplus is returned. Let's use your numbers. There are currently $10k in claims. The Trustee's statutory fee on that amount is 25% of the first $5000 and then 10% of the next $5000 for a total of $1,750.00 so you would need to pay the Trustee $11,750.00. But this number DOES NOT include any legal fees the Trustee may have incurred nor any out of pocket expenses NOR any late filed claims. You need to get the Trustee to agree not to solicit late (additional) claims - this is where a good attny comes in.
Why don't you simply ask the Trustee to calculate what needs to be paid and pay it, instead of beating around the bush? Trustee may ask for a little extra to cover any late filed claims and then simply return the money if there are none.
Des.

