Question 2 at the 341 Meeting of Creditors: Are you personally familiar with the information contained in the petition?
This is the second in my series of posts regarding questions being asked at the 341 meeting of creditors. As stated in earlier posts preparation is the most important factor in whether your 341 meeting of creditors will go smoothly or be a nightmare. When I was in ROTC, the drill instructor used to say: “proper preparation prevents piss poor performance.” It may be crass, but there is no doubting my drill instructors accuracy when it comes to preparation. There is one other thing that I gained from my Marine training even though I never served, the idea of getting more done before 9 AM than most people get done all day. At my law firm we do our best to get more done before 9 AM than most law firms get done all day.
The second question the trustee will ask you for 341 meeting of creditors is: “Are you personally familiar with the information contained in the petition, schedules and related documents?”
Essentially, the trustee is asking you if you are aware of the information that is in your chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy filing. Before a bankruptcy cases is filed, you should read each and every page of the filing and be certain of the information in it. If you have reviewed each and every page of the bankruptcy petition and understand it, the answer to this question is yes.
The trustee will then ask: “To your knowledge is the information contained in the petition, schedules, statements, and related documents correct?” This is the opportunity to bring up changes that have occurred in your filing and errors that have been detected after filing.
If your attorney is smart your he or she will have identified the errors or things that need to be updated and will let the trustee know about them prior to the meeting. This notification will be made either with amended documents or by telling the trustee prior to going on the record about the corrections that need to be made. If the trustee has any questions about the changes that need to be made, they can also be resolved prior to going on the record.
If you wait until this question is asked to notify the trustee of errors, it may annoy him or her and the hearing may not go as smoothly. The trustee is not supposed to hold a grudge and they usually don’t, but keep in mind the trustee hears 45 to 50 of these meetings per day, three or four days a week. I couldn’t do that, it would be monotonous! The trustee really wants the meeting to go smoothly with no abnormalities. if you have notified the trustee of the amendments that need to be made to your Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy petition, the trustee is then able to say: “Prior to going on the record, cousel has notified me that the following amendments need to be made to the bankruptcy filing…”
Finally the trustee will ask are there any errors or omissions that you need to bring to my attention at this time. This is the same question that was just asked but in a different format, however it is one last opportunity for you to notify the trustee of an error rather than force the trustee to ferret out.
Surprisingly this is a question that clients get wrong on a regular basis. Most of the nightmare cases I hear about are cases where the client says no I am not. Most of the time the client reason for saying this is because they did not write the documents themselves so they don’t know what is in them, but if you go through the bankruptcy petition with your attorney prior to filing then you will be familiar with what is in it.
A lot of bankruptcy law is paperwork, paperwork that must be done in a specific way to comply with court rules, and if you were to attempt this paperwork yourself you would probably find it very difficult. Any attorney worth their salt will explain what each document in the bankruptcy filing is so that you understand completely what you are doing before the case is filed. If your attorney has done this and you can confidently answer yes, you are personally familiar with the information contained in the petition, schedules, statements, and related documents. Furthermore you will also be able answer that there are not any errors or omissions to bring to my attention at this time.
Getting through this question is key to a successful 341 meeting of creditors and once again it’s all about preparation. If you are experiencing financial hardship and you think that you may need the help of a bankruptcy attorney who will prepare you for success, please call me at 484-661-2891 or e-mail me at jim@padebt911.com to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your specific situation.
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