341 tomorrow...nervous

[Fletch]

My 341 is tomorrow at 2:30 pm and I am getting nervous.

I have heard absolutely nothing other than a letter from my attorney last week asking us to bring ss cards and drivers liscenses. I have driven myself crazy checking Pacer 3 times a day for updates and nothing has changed( I guess this is a good sign?)

The reason I am so nervous is that I have 170k unsecured. other than having such a hign unsecured amount my case is farly straight forward. We are 4 k under median for a family of 5 in Mass.

The thing I fear most is being asked how I got into such high debt and I have been rehearsing for weeks what I am going to say. Their are several reasons, some beyond my control and some within my control.

I have learned a big lesson in all this and just want to move on.

[tobee43]

My 341 is tomorrow at 2:30 pm and I am getting nervous.

I have heard absolutely nothing other than a letter from my attorney last week asking us to bring ss cards and drivers liscenses. I have driven myself crazy checking Pacer 3 times a day for updates and nothing has changed( I guess this is a good sign?)

The reason I am so nervous is that I have 170k unsecured. other than having such a hign unsecured amount my case is farly straight forward. We are 4 k under median for a family of 5 in Mass.

The thing I fear most is being asked how I got into such high debt and I have been rehearsing for weeks what I am going to say. Their are several reasons, some beyond my control and some within my control.

I have learned a big lesson in all this and just want to move on.

i know it's really easy for everyone one say...relax...it will go perfect...and it will...we had over 272k in unsecured debt...200k was medical expenses...we were asked prior to our 341 to explain why the amount was so high and we did...

we were asked about what we did for a living, about our education..(odd we thought) how long we had been out of work...and a few more simply questions and couple of tough ones about some property we co owned...other than that it went smooth and i'm certain your will as well.

just arrive a bit early so you can get some sense of the environment.....even try to hear a few 341's before yours so you can get the drift of the trustee's personality...ours was pretty funny actually...especially when she questioned our food expense amount and said don't let my husband see that! it "broke" the ice a bit. and, we too, other than a few items were pretty much straight forward.

best of luck and let us know how you make out!!!!

[Fletch]

Ok a quick update;

My meeting lasted all of 2 minutes. I worried for months for nothing. The only question out of the norm was the trustee asking my wife if she worked full time and if I was in possesion of all my assets.

My report of no distribution was entered into Pacer by the time I got home from the meeting.

My Attorney redeemed himself yesterday because out of all the Attorneys there he seemed to be the only one prepared for all his cases. All of the other Attorneys were missing documents, trading documents back and forth with the trustee etc etc.

My Attorney also seemed to be friends with the trustee.

[NeedOptions]

Did the trustee ask you how you got into debt? My wife and I have our 341 in two weeks and we have $225k in unsecured debt. Is it their job to grill you and ask how and why you got into so much debt? Thanks.

[Fletch]

I am not sure if its their job to grill you about the debt but they may ask and you should be prepared to answer.

The trustee did ask how we got into debt and I explained that I have been in debt since I was 18 and I ran myself into debt putting myself through college as an adult. I also explained that the debt turned into a vicious cycle that I could not keep up with, mainly due to the fact that I lost income at my job. The trustee seemed satisfied with this and wished me luck.

[jmac]

I watched at least 50 cases during mine and i never once heard the trustee ask how did you get into this debt.....Kind of question which really don't matter, your numbers are what they are and they go by that.....They have a hard enough time at my court just seeing each person 5 minutes they would of never got done if they had to listen how everyone got into debt.

[Fletch]

Oh great for you Jmac! At my 341 I watched about a dozen cases before mine and each and every one was asked so I was prepared. I guess this really did matter to my trustee.. The O/P should be prepared just in case he /she is asked..

[ONEBADAPL]

Jmac, I see that you live in California. My 341 meeting is next week and I'm just wondering how packed it is and what kinds of questions do they ask the debtors...

[jmac]

Mine was in OC but it was packed, i had a 4PM appointment and at 4:30 they still had many cases to do from the 3PM group...I got out of there close to 7pm...It was my second time there so i got to hear many cases again, seems the people that have the hardest time are the one's with there own business, everyone else was pretty standard questions. Its pretty nerve racking, i had a few things that didn't fly the first time around so i was expecting the worse but it may all work out...Never really did see them attack allowances to much even seen people use recreation and smoking as a deduction which my lawyer was adamant about not doing.

[jmac]

Good point....

[ONEBADAPL]

Oh my...I have a small business (a video store)...mainly rental. I wonder what kinds of questions they ask you if you own your own business...I'm kinda nervous now..

Thank you for the info jmac

[jmac]

Oh my...I have a small business (a video store)...mainly rental. I wonder what kinds of questions they ask you if you own your own business...I'm kinda nervous now..

Thank you for the info jmac

Try not to be nervous, you will do fine...I wish you the best and let us know the results...