What should I expect at my 341 meeting?
Prior to filing bankruptcy the thing people are most nervous about is having to go into court and declare to the world that they cannot handle their financial affairs. Most people’s understanding of court comes from television, but what’s depicted on television is nothing like what goes on in bankruptcy court, in if his bankruptcy court were put on television it would probably be very low rated show.
For starters you probably won’t have to see a judge or for that matter another attorney. Most of the time the only person that you’ll have to see other than your bankruptcy attorney is a bankruptcy trustee or one of their staff assistants to go over your bankruptcy filing. This is called the 341 meeting of creditors.
The 341 meeting of creditors is nothing like what you see on television law shows. Jack McCoy isn’t going to put you on the witness stand, ask a few questions to try to box you in a corner, Ben Matlock isn’t going to put someone on the stand and get them to confess, and Perry Mason isn’t going to be making his closing argument have someone stand up and say “I did it I am the man!”
Your 341 meeting of creditors is more likely to be like a trip to the DMV, and while that won’t warm your heart, at least it’s a more pleasant experience than having to beg a judges for your driver’s license back. Your 341 meeting will last approximately 10 minutes and it’s not uncommon for a trustee or trustees assisted to have several of these scheduled in 30 minute blocks, this is because they expect everybody to be prepared when they come to the 341 meeting and they don’t expect to be too many errors on the documents to correct.
If your attorney is worth his or her salt they will prepare you at least three or four days in advance of your 341 meeting. Some attorneys will send you a list of questions that you’ll be asked at the 341 meeting along with a list of things that you need to bring with you, other attorneys will want to prepare you with these questions over the phone, and some like myself will send you the e-mail 7 to 10 days prior to the meeting and then try to talk to you three or four days before just to make sure all our bases are covered.
There is nothing that drives me crazier than watching an attorney prepare some of the 341 meeting in the waiting room. The attorney who does this to their client does a diservice to them because if there are errors in the documents that need to be resolved, the meeting date is not the day to find out about it, especially since there are likely to be errors in the documents that you didn’t see.
Each trustee is allowed to set his or her own procedure. In Philadelphia, Jack Miller’s office has one of their officers at the front desk. This officer will collect the necessary documents and verify that IDs and Social Security cards are present before you can even see Jack Miller or one of his assistants. The Reading trustee Fred Reigle has his staff assistants do this when you get in the room prior to the meeting.
When you get into the 341 meeting room it is important to remember that the trustee is advocating on behalf of your creditors. The trustee is not our enemy, but the trustee is not there for your benefit. At some point the trustee will turn a tape recorder on and you’ll be on the record. Most of the time these recorders or digital which will make it easy for your attorney to get a copy if necessary but there our one or two staff assistants who still use the old cassette tapes. I’ve never requested an audio transcript of a 341 meeting I have recorded one myself with my own digital recorder.
The trustee or trustee’s assistant will ask you to raise your right hand and swear or affirm that you’re going to tell the truth. Then they will ask you a series of questions which we will discuss and later posts. It’s important to answer the question, only the question, and not volunteer any information. I can’t tell you how many clients that I thought had been well-prepared as gone into at 341 meeting and couldn’t stop talking. The trustee is just there to verify information, they’re not there to talk about your family, your personal life, and usually they don’t care why you have fallen into debt, they’re just there to make sure the documents are accurate.
it’s important to remember that nothing that happens at the 341 meeting can have a legal binding effect, the trustee can only make recommendations to the Bankruptcy Court, but the trustee’s recommendations are usually followed, so if a trustee makes a recommendation for an amendment to a document it needs to be done.
If you’ve been prepared properly, disclosed everything you should have at the beginning of your case your attorney, and you just answer the questions, you will get to the point that everyone wants to hear: “Do you have any questions for me, the trustee?” even if you do have questions about your bankruptcy the answer to this question should always be no. You’ve paid your attorney is significant amount of money to handle your case, and your attorney can get all the answers that you need. You can only hurt yourself by asking the trustee questions.
I always advise client to treat the 341 meeting the same way you do when a police officer or pulls you over. When I get pulled over (and it happens often because I am a lead foot) I am respectful, I don’t ask the officer any questions, and I only answer their questions. If you treat your 341 meeting in that manner, you have prepared ahead of time for the questions that are coming, and you tell the truth your 341 meeting should go fine.
your 341 meeting is nothing to be scared of be prepared, be on time, tell the truth, and get out. If you’ve decided that you need bankruptcy and you don’t want to go at it alone please e-mail me at jim@padebt911.com or call the office for 484-661-2891 and we can schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.
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