What Does the 341 Meeting of Creditors Entail?
Transcript:
Hi, Matt McArthur, bankruptcy attorney at Clear Counsel Law Group. Today I want to talk a little bit about the 341 meeting of creditors. You may hear it just referred to as simply as your court date, 341 meeting, or a meeting of creditors or all of it together.
It's all the same thing. What it is is a chance for your creditors to meet with you down at the courthouse and ask you questions under oath. I would say that a typical 341 meeting of creditors has zero creditors present.
It's extremely unusual for the creditors to show up. In less than 1% of cases, typically, a creditor will actually show up. When they do, their questions are usually fairly benign. They're not very hard-hitting questions.
At the 341 meeting, what usually happens is it will be me, your attorney, your bankruptcy trustee, and you.
What Happens at the 341 Meeting?
Your trustee is going to ask you a series of questions to determine that you've complied with all the filing requirements for the bankruptcy, that we filled out all the paperwork correctly and submitted the supporting documentation, and to see whether or not there is any assets or other types of property that you may own that you unintentionally left off of your bankruptcy paperwork. If there is anything to be amended, they'll make note of that.
These meetings typically last about 4 or 5 minutes. These can get complicated.
If creditors do show up, you may be required to spend a little bit more time than usual answering the questions. For the vast majority of people, this is a very simple, straightforward meeting. It's very summary in nature.
You're going to be asking questions like, "Did you review all the paper with your attorney? Did you sign it? Is everything truthful and accurate?" Those are the types of questions that you can expect receiving from the bankruptcy trustee.
If you have any questions about this meeting, or if you're nervous about this, don't be. There is a judge in your case.
You will not be meeting the judge, the black robed figure with the gavel in the scary courtroom is not where this is going to take place.
It's in a small side room, typically, at the bankruptcy courthouse with a trustee who is another court official, usually another attorney, like I said, who has been assigned to your case to determine that you've fulfilled all the filing requirements.
Hope to hear from you soon.
If you have any questions about this, I hope that this video puts you at ease and lets you know that this meeting is nothing to fear as long as you tell the truth.
I look forward to hearing from you soon, and if you have an upcoming 341, seeing you there soon.
