Chapter 13 341 Meeting 7/23

[May2014]

I was not nervous for tomorrow's 341 meeting until now. Our attorney told us that he will take care of all the paperwork the Trustee wants, that all we need are our IDs, SS card, and a 2-page paper we filled out. Now I'm second guessing myself on my lack of paperwork preparedness.

I worry that we've left out some small detail. I worry that there will be objections to our plan. I worry that the Trustee will recommend a higher plan payment. I worry that this will drag out a long time.

I need a Xanax...

[LadyInTheRed]

There really is no point in worrying. If your petition is accurate and you bring what your attorney told you to bring, everything will be fine. There really is not much preparation to be done for a 341. You most likely will do no more than confirm the accuracy of your petition and maybe answer a specific question or two. You will probably know the answer to any questions off the top of your head. If you don't, just say that you don't know, but can find out. Anything that comes up can be addressed. If your experience is like the vast majority of BKforum members, it will be over before you know what happened.

You not being nervous until now reminds me of my 341. I was never nervous until the moment I stepped off the elevator on the floor where the meeting took place. My stomach suddenly turned to butterflies. I had plenty of time to calm down and everything went fine, just like it did for every debtor that went before me.

I won't say "good luck" because you don't need it! How about Best Wishes!

[May2014]

Meeting DONE! It was pretty straightforward: name, employment info, income, mortgages. We were asked more in-depth about my husband's potential bonus (once in 11 years, no red-flag), a judgement we awarded in a small claims court (trustee assistant thought if interesting that we are creditors in THAT particular bk situation), and the rental house that we are surrendering (and have filed a motion with the court to short-sell).

Afterwards, our attorney warned us that more likely than not, there will be an objection to confirmation. He said normally it's some tiny detail that is an easy fix and won't change the payment plan. He said that because we converted from the 7 to the 13, the financial details were already fixed based on the trustee's recommendations and that we shouldn't run into numbers trouble. I guess we'll see...

As far as the actual process goes (in case anyone stumbles across this post in the future looking for guidance), it's not very exciting. If you're lucky, your attorney gets there on time to give you some last minute advice before the process begins. You sit in a room with a lot of debtors fidgeting in their seats and lawyers playing on their phones. After the question-asker goes over a bunch of information, lawyers that were late or had several clients to meet with call their clients out into the hall...lots of commotion. When your name is called (and we were only number five), you go to a big table, get sworn in, hand over id, etc. We were asked questions by an assistant to the trustee, wasn't expecting that. I also was not expecting a tape-recorder. He asks his questions, scribbles down a bunch of notes, and sends you on your merry way. You talk to your lawyer for a couple of minutes and you get the heck out of dodge!

I was starting to get nervous because 3 of the first 4 cases were continued to a later date, and was kind of worrying that maybe this guy was on a continuation-roll. From what I could tell, their lawyers hadn't done a very good job of getting everything submitted correctly or informing their clients to let them know immediately of any changes. So basically, be 100% honest 100% of the time and there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

There were some people there who we're wearing short shorts and some in jeans and dirty t-shirts, but mostly everyone was dressed well. One lawyer looked quite unprofessional and she was a bit of a ditz to boot. But then, the assistant trustee was chomping on gum the whole time...so I guess being professional is optional.

Anyway...just wanted to post all of this because I had a heck of a time finding 341 meeting info specifically for chapter 13 (though my guess is that it's pretty much the same).

Cheers!

[63640]

Maybe the casual dress is a Missouri thing, I noticed the the dress code at my 341 was sorta whatever. I was business causal but mosl folks were in jeans and t shirts.

[lucielulu209]

I was told to wear what you would wear to a normal court proceeding (ie don't look like a scrub)