Is this normal???

[marcie26]

We signed our petition back in Sept or early October and the attorney JUST filed it February 13th!! He told us a few weeks and I called/emailed several times since we signed and he never called or emailed me back. We just got the letter notifying us that it was filed on Feb 13th and that we have to go to the trustee meeting March 19th. Is this typical for an attorney to take that long to file??
I also have no idea what to expect at this meeting - I am sooo scared - I already have so much stress in my life and if someone objects I don't know what we will do. The attorney acted like we have nothing to worry about because our income is so low compared to our debt so there would be absolutely no way for us to pay. (back when we first talked to him) Is this meeting in a courtroom or just some room? I have an 8 week old baby and am wondering if I will have to get a babysitter for him? (the bankruptcy clinic is 1 hour and 35 minutes from where we live so it is going to be difficult because I nurse him)
Thanks for reading and for any input.

[TEW]

No I wouldn't call waiting that long normal after you signed the petition has anything changed LIKE YOU NOW HAVE A BABY.
the 341 meeting for me was in a little room. you answer a couple of questions. all yes or no. it lasts about 5 minutes and its over. You will only have objections if you are trying to discharge NON dischargeable debt student loans taxes ect.
the 341 meeting is not a good place to bring a baby.

[akame5150]

That doesn't sound normal to me. I would definitely find out what is going with your attorney. A good attorney will prep you for your 341 meeting long before It is possible your attorney was waiting for some time to pass from recent luxury purchases or cash advances, however whatever the reason, this should have been communicated to you.

At least in my area, the 341 was held in a meeting room at the Bankruptcy court. I was told not to bring children so we didn't bring ours. I have heard others in this forum brought theirs.

Bottom line in my opinion is I would be on the phone or in the lobby of my attorney until they spoke to me. BK attorneys are understandably busy right now, however it should take no more than a few days to hear from them, not months.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[SubPrimeME]

We signed our petition back in Sept or early October and the attorney JUST filed it February 13th!! He told us a few weeks and I called/emailed several times since we signed and he never called or emailed me back. We just got the letter notifying us that it was filed on Feb 13th and that we have to go to the trustee meeting March 19th. Is this typical for an attorney to take that long to file??
I also have no idea what to expect at this meeting - I am sooo scared - I already have so much stress in my life and if someone objects I don't know what we will do. The attorney acted like we have nothing to worry about because our income is so low compared to our debt so there would be absolutely no way for us to pay. (back when we first talked to him) Is this meeting in a courtroom or just some room? I have an 8 week old baby and am wondering if I will have to get a babysitter for him? (the bankruptcy clinic is 1 hour and 35 minutes from where we live so it is going to be difficult because I nurse him)
Thanks for reading and for any input.

Just so you know- even if you have an objection to a credit line- like if Bank of America objects to a CC, your BK will still progress, you just may have to pay for that CC. Objections aren't that scary. Even presumption of abuse isn't the end of the world- you would wind up in a 13(possibly).

Atty's are slow in a lot of cases- could be that they are waiting for income to level out, or they have 850 cases that they are working on. It took 6 months for my atty to get the case ready, so hang in there!

The 341- is really no big deal. Just make sure you bring your social security card, and your drivers license. And get a babysitter for the little one!

Good luck, you'll be fine....

[dingdong]

The only thing I would worry about is if your attorney had the correct numbers for the last 6 months of income. Since you stated you signed your petition in Oct, 6 months have passed since you gave him your income info.

Is your income stable over the year or has it changed in the last 6 months. You are supposed to supply the last 60 days ( I believe if I remember correctly) of pay stubs with your filing. You might want to bring those with you to the 341 hearing, just so your case doesn't get continued to another 341.

RE the baby, can you have someone come with you and help with the baby and nurse him/her right before you go in. Then you could nurse after you are done, or perhaps pump if your little one takes a bottle? I wouldn't bring the baby into the 341 hearing. You don't want to piss off the Trustee!

[marcie26]

Thanks everyone - I didn't think it would be a good idea to bring my baby, but I wasn't for sure. I just have never left him yet so I am nervous (more for me than for him - LOL!) I will just have to pump.

Our income has actually seriously declined so I am not worried about that. I am worried about objections because we used to take out sooo many of those stupid convenience checks (basically to pay other debt) and those are sooo high there is no way we could ever repay them.
They must have a ton of cases as when I call now it is saying their mailbox is full. (I wanted to ask about why they told us we could go to the meeting near where we live, but now we have to go to the one that is soooo far from us)

[TEW]

most likely you will your trustee will be a local attorney.

[marcie26]

most likely you will your trustee will be a local attorney.

so then what happens? Unfortunately, I am not a good record keeper at all

[TEW]

so then what happens? Unfortunately, I am not a good record keeper at all

60 days latter you have a discharge if all goes well and most do. You most likely will not hear from your lawyer after the meeting until you have the discharge. And your done