Jun 10
14
What Is The 341 Meeting?
Whether you are filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will be scheduled a 341 meeting. This 341 meeting is not conducted inside a court, nor is there a judge involved. There is only 1 trustee who will preside over the this meeting, which is also known as the meeting with the creditors. This meeting is usually the only meeting you will have with the court system before the bankruptcy discharge is issued or denied. In this meeting, the trustee will be responsible for gathering all the facts surrounding your case, and making sure that the petition package is complete.
What happens at the 341 Meeting?
When you arrived at your 341 meeting, you will most likely be there with other people who are there for their 341 meeting also. The 341 meeting is usually short and sweet. You should arrive at the 341 meeting early just to catch other people’s 341 meeting so you can prepare yourself for the type of questions that the trustee might ask. The trustee will make you go under oath and swear to tell the truth. The meeting is either taped or recorded by a court reporter.
At the meeting, the trustee will try to gather all the facts surrounding your case. The trustee can ask you questions about the assets that you have listed in the petition, about any unusual assets that you have, or any business interests you might have. The trustee can also ask for additional supporting documents to supplement what has been provided in the petition earlier. The main objective of the 341 meeting is for the trustee to clear up any discrepancies that can assist the bankruptcy court to determine if the bankruptcy discharge can be warranted.
Other than the usual fact finding questions, here are just some standard questions that the trustee might ask:
- Is this your legal name and your social security number?
- Has your attorney gone over the bankruptcy papers with you and do you understand every single line item?
- Did you read all the schedules prior to signing them?
- Did you list all of your assets?
- Did you list all of your debts?
- Are the schedules accurately represented?
- Do you want to make any modifications to the schedules?
- Have you lived outside of this state for the past 2 years?
Will the creditors be present in the meeting?
All the creditors you have listed in the bankruptcy petition are invited to the 341 meeting, but realistically most of them will not show up. Most of the time creditors do not show up at the meeting because they can still file their objection (if they choose to) for the discharge 30-45 days after the 341 meeting. But if the creditors choose to attend the meeting, most of the time the creditors believe they have been defrauded and want to question the debtor in person.
What does NOT happen at the 341 Meeting
Just to keep your mind at ease, nothing will be decided in the meeting. Here are some of the things you will not have to worry about:
- You do not have to justify why you are filing for bankruptcy
- No rights are awarded or lost
- Creditors do not have to be present to object to the discharge