341 meeting tomorrow and really nervous

[cspa522]

I know everyone says our 341 meeting shouldn't be a big deal, but I can't help but be nervous. Scared to death, actually. My attorney told us to just bring our driver's licenses and SS cards as proof of identity, and that's it. Any advice? We are hoping to get there about a half hour early to watch and see, and of course we have no idea what time we'll actually be called.

Help calming my nerves would be appreciated. I guess at this point I'm just worried they'll ask me questions and I'll answer incorrectly or something and it will ruin the entire thing for us.

[justbaby]

No worries! I KNOW you can't help it though. Been there done that! Really though, if there was any major concerns, your attorney would already have been made aware of them. For mine, I went in and sat in the lobby waiting for my attorney. I wasn't allowed in the room until my time. Now there were other people at the same time, I was #4 of that time slot, so I was able to hear 3 cases. My trustee wasn't bad at all AND I had issues with my case. No biggies though. He just asked me the basic questions...just listen, take your time and breathe. Don't try to rush through the questions and get something wrong...

Good Luck!

[cspa522]

Thanks. ;) I know it'll be okay. I'm just nervous. Never having done this before...I don't do well with situations like that. Appreciate the kind words!

[justbaby]

No problem. I had to take several gulps of Pepto Bismol before going because my stomach was in knots. It all went well though...I'll say a prayer for you!

[chicagoannie]

You'll get through it, I promise...and then wonder why you were so worried!

[RunningMan]

Good luck! We just had ours today. It didn't go as well as we wanted, but it is what it is. I wish hadn't gotten nervous about it. It wouldn't have changed anything and I would have had a better nights sleep. The people we saw having the most problems from the trustee were because they didn't have all their documentation in such as proof of income and tax returns. There was one attorney that had three different clients with that problem.

[cspa522]

Thanks. Our attorney has our tax returns and our proof of income, so I'm assuming that's why we don't need them and she only told us to bring our SS cards and photo ID's? In fact, the 341 got pushed back because even though the attorney sent over the paperwork, the court said they were missing our tax returns. So she resent them and it got rescheduled for tomorrow.

Oh, and glad yours went okay, even if it wasn't perfect!!

[RunningMan]

Thanks. I redid our budget with the new payment and we will be okay. I expected it to go up, just not quite as much as it did. I brought copies of my last three paystubs and last years tax return with me just in case, but the trustee never asked for them because my attorney had filed them ahead of time.

[cspa522]

How much did it go up, and why? I don't expect our payment to stay as low as it is (I think it's really low, but my attorney has her reasons for it). I have budgeted for it to double next month just in case. It'll be super tight, but it can happen.

Our attorney filed everything ahead of time as well. I just emailed her to double check everything, and yup, all we need are ourselves, SS cards and photo ID's. Hopefully no problems arise.

[RunningMan]

Ours didn't double but it went up 50%. $1500 from $1005. The trustee said his calculations indicated it should be $2400 and I nearly fell out of my seat. In the end he said he would accept $1500. He didn't like our grocery budget and the fact that we were counting an 18 year old daughter living at home as a dependent (does he have kids?). The strangest thing that I didn't catch when I was reading the schedules was that our attorney had put a "phantom car payment" into the plan. Since we are allowed two car payments and we only had one, he put a fictitious one in as a place holder. Apparently it used to be allowed and no longer is.

[lrprn]

Take deep breaths and relax yourself as much as possible. Answer the questions you are asked. Don't volunteer any extra information. Your lawyer will be there and you can confer with him/her before answering any questions if you need to. If you don't understand a question or aren't sure what it means, ask the trustee to restate it.

The 341 meeting will be over before you know it....promise! Be sure to come back after and let us know how it goes. Good luck!

[cspa522]

It's over!! We were in and out in 45 minutes, and most of that was just the trustee's assistant person explaining everything to the room. He then went through the roster, and any attorney who only had one case was going to be bumped to the top of the list. That was us! We went maybe...fourth? Enough to get a sense of things and to be comfortable when we got up there. When we stood up to leave the trustee looked at the man sitting next to him (a trainee) and said "That's how I like them...run of the mill...in and out quickly." I was so glad we were run of the mill!!! Thanks to everyone for the advice and comfort!!

As our confirmation was supposed to be tomorrow, that will obviously be continued, but this part is over!! I'm so relieved!!

[LadyInTheRed]

When we stood up to leave the trustee looked at the man sitting next to him (a trainee) and said "That's how I like them...run of the mill...in and out quickly."

That reminds me about the conversation I had with my attorney right before the 341. He told me my case was boring and then decided I might find that offensive and started to apologize. I interrupted him and told him I was very glad to hear my case was boring.

Glad everything went well, cspa522.

[free2breathe]

Congrats on a smooth 341

[cspa522]

Thanks everyone!!