What is a 341 Meeting?

A 341 meeting is a mandatory meeting between the debtor and their creditors. A Bankruptcy Trustee will check your identification, and ask a series of questions regarding your bankruptcy paperwork. Creditors may attend this meeting if they choose to.

The bankruptcy trustees role in the meeting is you check your identity and review your bankruptcy paperwork for accuracy. This includes evaluating your assets, property, and the accuracy of your reported income. You should not try and hide anything from the bankruptcy trustee. It is against the law to do so and may affect your bankruptcy case negatively. It is the job of bankruptcy to hunt and find anything that is being hidden and to make sure that your creditors are paid as much as possible.

As with any serious legal meeting. You will want to review the bankruptcy petition carefully for accuracy, make sure you haven’t missed anything. If you do find inaccuracies in the entry you should:

• File an amendment prior to the hearing if possible or
• Raise the issue with the bankruptcy trustee

Make sure that your information is accurate. Name, phone number, social security number and bring an approved identification method, such as, license, passport, or government issued identification.

You will need to provide verifying documents to the trustee before the meeting of creditors. This may be in the form of pay stubs,  bank and retirement statements, and income tax returns. If the Trustee requires other documents you should bring those too.

• An approved form of identification
• Your Social Security card or other form of poof for Social Security
• Documents relating to any financial changes since you filed the bankruptcy petition.

You will also want to bring your own set of bankruptcy documents to refer to. If you are not sure on what to bring consult with an attorney.

An attorney can predict the types of questions a Trustee may ask as  they have keen insight into your case. You may file bankruptcy on your own but it is hard to predict the questions that will be asked because that is based on an attorney who is familiar with the system and in most cases, familiar with the bankruptcy trustee themselves. Regardless, these are some of the routine questions that may be asked:

These Typical Questions Are:

• Have you filed or claimed bankruptcy before?
• Have you filed all of your tax returns as they come due?
• Have you listed all of your creditors?
• Are you required to pay child support or alimony?
• Is all the information in the bankruptcy petition true and correct?
• Have you disclosed all of your assets?
• Did you review your bankruptcy petition and schedules before you filed it with the court.
• For any reason, does anyone owe you money?

Creditors will get a notice of the 341 meeting, but most wont appear. Here are a few reasons a creditor may appear at the meeting:

• The creditor is hostile, a spouse, or a former business partner and is concerned about not being paid.
• The creditor is seeking information to recent cash advances or purchases.
• The creditor may be seeking information about disclosures that differ from what was put on the loan of credit application, such as income.

Creditors can may file an objection to discharging your bankruptcy petition. This is why an attorney is needed. Call us at (440) 331-3949 or contact us.