What Happens at the Chapter 7 Court Date?
Shortly after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case is filed, the
Clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court will send notice of your
filing to all parties and creditors listed on your
bankruptcy petition. The clerk will also assign a Chapter
7 bankruptcy trustee and set a date for your Section 341
meeting of creditors. There are several reasons for the
Section 341 meeting of creditors. 1. The meeting is
required in the bankruptcy code. You must be examined
under oath with regard to the information contained in your
schedules to be eligible to receive a discharge. 2. It
gives creditors an opportunity to ask questions of you with
regard to the information listed in your petition and
schedules; 3. It allows the trustee to take sworn testimony
from you with regard to the information contained in the
petition and schedules. A trustee will ask you additional
questions with regard to your assets, liabilities, income,
expenses and statement of financial affairs.
How long will the meeting take?
The meeting can take five minutes or the meeting can take
thirty minutes or longer. The meeting can also be
continued over to another date if the trustee requires
additional information for you to provide.
You should be prepared prior to the meeting with the types
of questions that are going to be asked by the trustee. In
some jurisdictions, the trustees are required to ask
identical questions of each debtor. In other
jurisdictions, the trustees are given greater latitude to
ask questions of their choosing. In either case, the
questions are typically straightforward. They are not
designed to trick you into saying something that is not
true. They are more or less fact-finding questions so the
trustee can determine whether or not there are any assets
that can be administered in your case. The overwhelming
majority of Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases do not involve the
administration of an asset. An exception to this occurs
when you either understate the value of your property or
you fail to disclose an item that has value beyond what the
exemptions can protect.
Who appears at the meeting of creditors?
In most cases, the only three people who will be present at
your meeting of creditors are you, your attorney and the
Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee. The most common creditors
such as credit card issuers, medical providers and
unsecured loan companies rarely if ever appear at the
meeting of creditors. Every once and a while an uncommon
creditor will appear such as a former friend or enemy that
is owed money. Most of the time, these people do not
realize that there is nothing to gain by attending. They
read the notice that they received about your bankruptcy
case and assume that they need to be present. In reality,
they are usually wasting their time since in the majority
of cases; there are no assets available for creditors.
In some cases, especially if the amount of debt is
excessive, a representative from the U.S. Trustee's office
may sit in on the case and monitor the answers given by
you. The U.S. Trustee's office has a separate and distinct
function, which I will detail later in this writing. For
now, lets suffice to say that the U.S. Trustee's office
oversees the complete process of the bankruptcy case and
the process of receiving a discharge in that bankruptcy
case.
A secured creditor, such as an auto finance company, may
appear through one of its representatives. That person may
be tendering a reaffirmation agreement for you to sign. If
that is the case, your attorney will check the agreement
and ask you if it is something that you are interested in
signing. In smaller jurisdictions, most agreements are
mailed to your attorney prior to the meeting of creditors.
----------------------------------------------------
David M. Siegel is the author of Chapter 7 Success: The
Complete Guide to Surviving Personal Bankruptcy. He is a
member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and currently
practices bankruptcy law in Chicago and its surrounding
suburbs. Additional information is available at
http://www.bankruptcy-lawyers-sanantonio.com .
Clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court will send notice of your
filing to all parties and creditors listed on your
bankruptcy petition. The clerk will also assign a Chapter
7 bankruptcy trustee and set a date for your Section 341
meeting of creditors. There are several reasons for the
Section 341 meeting of creditors. 1. The meeting is
required in the bankruptcy code. You must be examined
under oath with regard to the information contained in your
schedules to be eligible to receive a discharge. 2. It
gives creditors an opportunity to ask questions of you with
regard to the information listed in your petition and
schedules; 3. It allows the trustee to take sworn testimony
from you with regard to the information contained in the
petition and schedules. A trustee will ask you additional
questions with regard to your assets, liabilities, income,
expenses and statement of financial affairs.
How long will the meeting take?
The meeting can take five minutes or the meeting can take
thirty minutes or longer. The meeting can also be
continued over to another date if the trustee requires
additional information for you to provide.
You should be prepared prior to the meeting with the types
of questions that are going to be asked by the trustee. In
some jurisdictions, the trustees are required to ask
identical questions of each debtor. In other
jurisdictions, the trustees are given greater latitude to
ask questions of their choosing. In either case, the
questions are typically straightforward. They are not
designed to trick you into saying something that is not
true. They are more or less fact-finding questions so the
trustee can determine whether or not there are any assets
that can be administered in your case. The overwhelming
majority of Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases do not involve the
administration of an asset. An exception to this occurs
when you either understate the value of your property or
you fail to disclose an item that has value beyond what the
exemptions can protect.
Who appears at the meeting of creditors?
In most cases, the only three people who will be present at
your meeting of creditors are you, your attorney and the
Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee. The most common creditors
such as credit card issuers, medical providers and
unsecured loan companies rarely if ever appear at the
meeting of creditors. Every once and a while an uncommon
creditor will appear such as a former friend or enemy that
is owed money. Most of the time, these people do not
realize that there is nothing to gain by attending. They
read the notice that they received about your bankruptcy
case and assume that they need to be present. In reality,
they are usually wasting their time since in the majority
of cases; there are no assets available for creditors.
In some cases, especially if the amount of debt is
excessive, a representative from the U.S. Trustee's office
may sit in on the case and monitor the answers given by
you. The U.S. Trustee's office has a separate and distinct
function, which I will detail later in this writing. For
now, lets suffice to say that the U.S. Trustee's office
oversees the complete process of the bankruptcy case and
the process of receiving a discharge in that bankruptcy
case.
A secured creditor, such as an auto finance company, may
appear through one of its representatives. That person may
be tendering a reaffirmation agreement for you to sign. If
that is the case, your attorney will check the agreement
and ask you if it is something that you are interested in
signing. In smaller jurisdictions, most agreements are
mailed to your attorney prior to the meeting of creditors.
----------------------------------------------------
David M. Siegel is the author of Chapter 7 Success: The
Complete Guide to Surviving Personal Bankruptcy. He is a
member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and currently
practices bankruptcy law in Chicago and its surrounding
suburbs. Additional information is available at
http://www.bankruptcy-lawyers-sanantonio.com .
posted by Hugh Harris-Evans at 8:37 AM
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