341 in the morning

[deadbroke99]

I am sick with worry. We are over median and just sqeaked by on passing the means test without abuse due to debt threshold. I am sooooo worried.I looked up the other cases from the court calendar that is at the same time as mine10:30 a.m. and there is only one other couple who is over median so I am concerned.

[AngelinaCat]

I really don't know what "over the median" means as it is so different from case to case, district to district, and all of that stuff.

Just get a good night's rest and leave plenty early in the morning so you don't have to deal with traffic and parking. I usually suggest planning to get to the 341 site an hour ahead of time so you can have the above mentioned stuff out of the way and you have some time to observe cases ahead of you.

Double-check that you have your DLs, SS cards, and anything else the lawyer told you to bring.

Other than that, bring nothing else but yourselves. Leave the cell phones in the car.

Good luck to you!!

[LuciluS]

Sending Good Vibes Your Way For A Smooth 341 Hearing!

Luci

[liz417]

Sending good vibes to your 341 tomorrow. Don't worry, try to get some rest and get to the court house earlier. You will be fine. I was over the median by 21k, now waiting discharge. Good Luck!

[deadbroke99]

Thanks all, We are over about 25k somewhere in that range.

[justplaintired]

Wishing you good luck, good vibes, simply good everything. Ours is next Monday, July 20th. Wishing you well, head up, chin up, you will be fine!

[aces67]

Good Luck to you!!! I'm sure you'll do just fine!

[jadams]

Definitely a good idea to get there early to observe. I had my 341 today and I was early plus the Trustee was about 30 minutes behind -- so I got to observe quite a few cases.

I was nervous because I have some joint accounts with family and a sole proprietorship with business accounts, inventory, etc. -- Basically a case of I really do have nothing of worth, but on paper it seems like there should be something. Never mind the dollar amount my unsecured adds up to .

It was very helpful to realize that the Trustee had a very defined routine, asked everyone the same questions, and any of the bumps where when they didn't have the answer to his "normal" questions. When someone umm'd an answer or went on and on while darting wide eyed looks at their lawyer are when he would go off script and dig around a bit more. The people that just answered succinctly and promptly (answers matching the petition) were in and out in minutes.

Simple things like at which bank do you have your checking and savings accounts. How much money were in the accounts at time of filing (this should be listed on your petition if you need a reminder).

The other big one I noticed was not having a clear answer when he asked what was happening with real estate (surrendering, keeping, etc.) Many people acted like they had never given it a thought before and were just now making the decision. And when he asked what they thought the house was worth, they couldn't come up with a number or gave one way off from what they put on their schedules.

I would suggest glancing through your petition and remembering approximately what values you put on large things like cars or houses.

And I saw 4 cases where he would go through his questionnaire asking about real estate, bank accounts, cars, boats, RVs, etc. -- and someone would say oh I've got blah blah blah large asset -- and it wasn't listed on their schedules!

Oh.. and bring proof of your social security number! (SS Card, W2, etc.) More than half of the people I watched didn't bring it. He let them all send it later, but from what I understand he could have made that a very big issue and not continued the meeting.

Like everyone says afterwards, it was not nearly the ordeal I was expecting in my head and in fact was just about as pleasant as one could ever expect it to be. I hope your meeting goes as well as mine seemed to.

[music12]

try to forget about other people's cases. just go to sleep and get up early to get there early.

the day before my 341 i was really nervous and i kept thinking about it and thinking about it, trying to anticipate the worst. then i decided it was just simply unhealthy. so i went to sleep really early, like 6pm and slept until i had to get up to go. it was excellent because while sleeping i stopped thinking about it. and the 341 went well!

so, good luck, you'll be fine. just try not to think about it.