341 Date and a few Preliminary Questions

[drayton]

First, just wanted to say a huge thank you to this forums posters. I have been lurking/learning for a good amount of time. I'm happy to say our case has been filed for 7 on 1/7/12 and now it's time to ask the experts! (Yes, I will ask my attorney, but I respect all of your thoughts as well)

1) As mentioned our attorney filed our case on 1/7. We received notice shortly thereafter that the 341 is set for March 6th. This seems to be rather far out, certainly past the 30- 45 day mark. Paralegal said this is not abnormal and they could just be backed up. It seems like a good amount of time to "wait" to accomplish certain things. i.e. Save some extra money (Wife is still in spend what we have now on home, car, medical, food mode prior to filing)

- Has anyone come across this before? Is it a cause for alarm for a 341 to be set so far out? Please tell me we weren't one of the random ones!

2) After receiving the notice of creditors informed, I spotted the UST name and email listed below the panel trustee. It was included in a section of "others notified via email through the CM system. (Also listed: our attorney, multiple emails for the panel trustee, etc)

- Is this standard procedure for the UST to simply receive that notice? Again, cause for alarm?
- In addition to the UST Name and email, there were several of emails of what appeared to be employees of the trustees firm. Again, common practice?

3) Yesterday we received all of our "filed" documents from the attorney, along with:

An IRS tax return transcript request form for us to sign, requesting tax years 08, 09, 10, 11. Just want to ensure I understand/seek advice on the below
We already provided our attorney with 07, 08, 09, 10 tax returns from good ole' H&R. They were included in the petition and returned to us.


- It seems clear to me to bring our H&R returns to the 341 to be safe. Would you agree?

- Main question on this one - will the trustee ask for our copies, or the returns currently on their way to our attorney ( I assume)? Its way to early for a trustee to be requesting documents correct?

- Follow up on the transcript form, they are being sent to a 3rd party, "Tax Verification Services" out of CA. Any thoughts on that? I'll run that by the attorney to see what he has to say.

Thanks in advance everyone for your thoughts on the above Italicized questions/concern. Of course - it's a pleasure to come out of the woodwork.

[tobee43]

1) As mentioned our attorney filed our case on 1/7. We received notice shortly thereafter that the 341 is set for March 6th. This seems to be rather far out, certainly past the 30- 45 day mark. Paralegal said this is not abnormal and they could just be backed up. It seems like a good amount of time to "wait" to accomplish certain things. i.e. Save some extra money (Wife is still in spend what we have now on home, car, medical, food mode prior to filing)

- Has anyone come across this before? Is it a cause for alarm for a 341 to be set so far out? Please tell me we weren't one of the random ones!

yes, ours was a bit over 2 months after our filing date. much of that has to do with the court calendars

2) After receiving the notice of creditors informed, I spotted the UST name and email listed below the panel trustee. It was included in a section of "others notified via email through the CM system. (Also listed: our attorney, multiple emails for the panel trustee, etc)

- Is this standard procedure for the UST to simply receive that notice? Again, cause for alarm?

our court system where we filed was very computer "friendly" with respect to emails. actually we rec'd at least 4 emails from our trustees office cc'ing our atty, with questions that they wanted answers to prior to our 341. so, it doesn't sound unusual to me, however, every state and or district may handle correspondence different.

- In addition to the UST Name and email, there were several of emails of what appeared to be employees of the trustees firm. Again, common practice?

i know we emailed the paralegal at the trustee's office, and it was a different email address than the trustee.

3) Yesterday we received all of our "filed" documents from the attorney, along with:

An IRS tax return transcript request form for us to sign, requesting tax years 08, 09, 10, 11. Just want to ensure I understand/seek advice on the below
We already provided our attorney with 07, 08, 09, 10 tax returns from good ole' H&R. They were included in the petition and returned to us.

i'm not certain about this one, we supplied 3 years but were only asked for 2. i would question your atty as to why you must supply 4 years of back tax returns. i'm also not certain if you may have had a business or there may be some particular reason behind the request.

oh!! and welcome to the forum!!

[drayton]

Good to know - this does seem to be a very computer friendly court. It kind of caught me off guard but I like it. No business that needed to be included as it was over six years ago - and way past the 4 years of tax returns requested. It was a small thing way back in college, nothing left of it now. I've already poked the atty re: this. It certainly isn't like I'm a giant rush before the 341.

Thank you very much for the welcome! Glad to step out of the shadows.

[tobee43]

glad to see you.

there are many helpful members so make certain and post any questions you may have! there's always someone here to help.

yes, i never thought much about the fact that ours was 2 months from our filing date. although, as you'll see when reading much about 341's on the forum, it's not common, most people are at their 341s approx. one month after their filing dates. we weren't in a hurry either, however, it was nice to get it behind up and begin to move forward.

[AngelinaCat]

Welcome to the forum. Usually the 341 ocurrs about 6 weeks after one files, though this may vary greatly from district to district and how much of a backlog the courts have. I am surprisded about the request for four years of income tax returns. We only had to provide two. But as has been said, it depends on the district--and can even depend on the particular trustee. Some are more 'picky' than others.

[NewPage]

My 341 was quite a ways out; I filed May 31 and my 341 was July 28. Conversely, my sister filed 7/1 and her 341 was also 7/28. We used the same atty. I think it just depends on the level of cases at the time you file, especially so if you live in a somewhat rural area, as I do. They only do 341s every so often.

[nohoneymoney]

It seems clear to me to bring our H&R returns to the 341 to be safe. Would you agree?

We were told by our attorney to bring nothing to the 341 meeting other than drivers license and SS card. He would bring whatever was needed. We had created summary sheets on all aspects of our BK so that we had all the facts at our fingertips to answer any and all questions. We were instructed not to bring them as they can be taken by the trustee. What ever you bring to the trustee's table at the 341 s/he can take. Since the attorney is the trustee's contact on your case, they know (or should know) what is needed.

- Main question on this one - will the trustee ask for our copies, or the returns currently on their way to our attorney ( I assume)? Its way to early for a trustee to be requesting documents correct?

I don't understand or have experience with the distinction in the tax file forms being discussed. If the attorney asked for you to sign a form to get information from the IRS, I recommend you sign it and ask the attorney what is going on. BTW, we only had to provide two years of 1040s and they were included in the initial filing. The trustee handed them back to us at the 341 meeting.

It seems it is never too early for a trustee to ask for additional documents. I prefer sooner rather than later so it doesn't hold up discharge and closing.