I have been reading a lot of threads on here, but this is my first post. We had our 341 this morning. First, a bit of history on our situation. My wife and I work full-time and I also have a very part-time business. We were about $30,000 above the average income for our state. We were current on all of our accounts. We have 2 cars and a house, which we are keeping. We had about $65,000 in credit card and personal loan debt. After many sleepless nights, we decided to talk to an attorney about bankruptcy. We only met with one attorney and he was great. We did not feel any pressure from him to file. He completely put us at ease. Our attorney felt like he could get us in a 7 but it would be close due to income. We were told to stop our CC payments immediately. Paid our attorney and we were filed in the middle of October. I was worried about the 341 because I have a small business and I read how some Trustees are more aggressive towards business owners.
Our 341
We were not in a courthouse, but what looked to be a big office with 2 tables and about 60 chairs. The Trustee introduced himself and swore everyone in at one time. It
turns out, our Trustee is not an attorney but a CPA. We were told he really dug deep when it comes to numbers. The good thing is, there are worse Trustees to have. Our attorney has a lot of cases, so they pretty much put his cases at the end of the day. We had plenty of opportunity to see how the Trustee treated people. The Trustee was soft spoken and we were relieved after the first couple cases. He did question a few situations and requested more information from several people. He did not ask for id or S.S. cards.
He asked most people the following:
1. Have you been sworn in?
2. Have you read the paper work your attorney has filed?
3. Have you read the bankruptcy statement? (paper everyone was given when we walked in)
4. Are any creditors present?
5. Do you have any domestic obligations? (spousal or child support, etc.)
6. Have you filed the statement of Intention? (attorney answered this)
7. Are there any amendments? (attorney answered again)
8. I HAVE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS
I have read North Carolina and Alabama are a bit different when it comes to bankruptcy, so this information may not be helpful to some people.
This has been one of the most stressful times in my life but it was well worth it to file.
I kept telling myself, the 341 is just a meeting. For some reason, saying that put me at ease. My attorney's staff kept telling me to relax and the 341 was just a formality and it truly was.
I do have one question. For those of you who know who Dave Ramsey is, why
does he say he regrets filing bankruptcy and would never recommend anyone file?
Our 341
We were not in a courthouse, but what looked to be a big office with 2 tables and about 60 chairs. The Trustee introduced himself and swore everyone in at one time. It
turns out, our Trustee is not an attorney but a CPA. We were told he really dug deep when it comes to numbers. The good thing is, there are worse Trustees to have. Our attorney has a lot of cases, so they pretty much put his cases at the end of the day. We had plenty of opportunity to see how the Trustee treated people. The Trustee was soft spoken and we were relieved after the first couple cases. He did question a few situations and requested more information from several people. He did not ask for id or S.S. cards.
He asked most people the following:
1. Have you been sworn in?
2. Have you read the paper work your attorney has filed?
3. Have you read the bankruptcy statement? (paper everyone was given when we walked in)
4. Are any creditors present?
5. Do you have any domestic obligations? (spousal or child support, etc.)
6. Have you filed the statement of Intention? (attorney answered this)
7. Are there any amendments? (attorney answered again)
8. I HAVE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS
I have read North Carolina and Alabama are a bit different when it comes to bankruptcy, so this information may not be helpful to some people.
This has been one of the most stressful times in my life but it was well worth it to file.
I kept telling myself, the 341 is just a meeting. For some reason, saying that put me at ease. My attorney's staff kept telling me to relax and the 341 was just a formality and it truly was.
I do have one question. For those of you who know who Dave Ramsey is, why
does he say he regrets filing bankruptcy and would never recommend anyone file?
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