How my 341 went.

[JGra]

First off, lawyer told us no matter what we do when we go in do not speak. No casual talk nothing because the trustee will hear everything.

I kinda wondered how could he possibly until I noticed at the front of the room there were 3 microphones each pointed directly at the seating and he held a little device to his ear that at first i thought was a cell phone but it wasn't.

Thought that was kinda funny.
I disregarded my lawyers advice and pointed out to my wife the microphones and said "be careful not to give away any super secrets, he's listening" at which point he looked up at us and smiled.

The trustee stood up and looked around at who all was there, and asked where a couple people were. One lawyer was missing a client who had not shown up ( showed up about 20 mins late )

The first couple was raked over the coals, their lawyer messed up so much of their paperwork it was scary.

Second couple was some older folks who's lawyer got suddenly ill and asked my lawyer to fill in for him. She did. Once they got up to trustee I kinda figured out why he suddenly got ill. He had practically no paperwork. Forgot the signature page, accidentally inserted another cases real estate in with their files so the trustee was completely confused as to who's stuff he was even looking at and he wished them look and threw them out.

The woman directly preceding us was another bad one, lawyer forgot some paperwork and forgot to include clothing expenses to which the trustee said "Mam, am I to assume you showed up to file your proceedings in the nude?" I couldnt help but chuckle at that.

Anyway finally came down to us and we were fairly nervous seeing how ever case before us was so horrible. We sat down, presented our IDs and he started joking with us. He looked at my wifes ID and said no way thats her she was much prettier in person, then joked about another trustee that actually wouldnt let one woman file because he truely didn't think it looked like her in the ID.
Then he went through the files, asked if it was our signatures and if lawyer went over everything with us.

Then asked for our title to our vehicle which we forgot.
He said its ok just make sure it gets faxed to him, and that was it.
He made some jokes about the other lawyer before us always leaving clothing expenses off saying he can't believe he does it that much and that he must have a paralegal doing all the paperwork for his clients. Told us good luck, and that was it...

I was amazed.

[btbeme]

Glad to hear it went well for you, despite the oversight on the auto title. And the microphones don't surprise me. With the avalanche of filings, I am certain that some people think they can get away with being lost in the crowd and will fudge their paperwork, etc. Good for the Trustee for taking the job seriously!

One thing I have learned is something my grandfather told me a looong time ago - that there isn't a more powerful person in the US than a BK Trustee, except maybe a BK judge. I believe him.

In this case, what a LOT of people here have said - and I can absolutely verify from experience - is that a filer is much better off by doing a couple things. First, get a GOOD attorney. They exist, and they cost more than the ones on the billboard and back of the phone book. Plenty of internet resources can point people in the right direction. Second, I strongly recommend that the person do most or all of their own paperwork with the assistance of the attorney's staff - not the other way around. It is a pain in the butt, but it is YOUR butt on the line. Last, keep copies of everything - EVERYTHING - you may need and lug them to your 341 hearing, neatly organized and ready to pull out if something is missing. I had ours in a 4 inch binder and also on a USB thumb drive - some Trustees want an electronic copy sent to them, others will or won't accept paperwork at the 341 - so having it ready to hand over, email, or give to your attorney to give to the Trustee before they leave the courthouse will put you in the good graces of a Trustee who might otherwise show you the exit.