I had my “meeting of creditors” today in US bankruptcy court.
One word to describe the whole thing?
Awkward
You’re in this room with a dozen other “debtors” and the awkwardness is as thick as pea soup. I think my meeting with the trustee went fine, in fact, it was not nearly as stressful as I thought it might be.
Payments to Family
I figured the payments to my mother might come up, and they did. When I explained why I send money each month, he replied, “She must have raised you right”. And that was the end of it. I nearly cried. He could have chosen to maybe go after my mother, but I don’t see that happening based on his response.
Back to the awkwardness…
So, there is this (attractive) girl with her lawyer there. All I can think is, “I wonder how she ended up here…” Likely she was thinking the same about myself. The rest of the debtors were mostly middle-aged, and everyone looked nervous.
341 Meeting
I’m glad this 341 meeting thing is done. Assuming no other hangups, my Chapter 7 bankruptcy should be done in a few months. I still need to do the online financial education part, but I’m pretty sure that will be a piece of cake.
I got a little emotional once I got back to my car. Just one more stop along my journey…
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sounds interesting. if you find the interest and time to describe what happens in such a meeting in more detail, and what your particular meeting was like, that would be of great interest–to me, at least.
I was pretty prepared. I had read about this meeting before, so I knew what to expect. My lawyer also prepped me well.
Here’s how mine went down…
1. Show up 15 minutes before your appt. time. Meet with Laywer
2. Make sure and bring your social security card and Driver’s License
3. Go into a conference type room with pew type benches. Trustee make a few opening remarks to about a dozen other debtors + lawyers.
5. one by one, each debtor goes up and sits with the Trustee
6. It was really easy to hear every conversation from the peanut gallery (it is also recorded, so we were asked to speak up)
7. When your turn is up, you approach the trustee. He/She will swear you in. You sit down. Your lawyer sits next to you.
8. Trustee will ask a serious of have to ask questions, “did you read this document?” “has anything changed since you filed?” “is everything true that you filed”? etc.
9. Once the Trustee gets through those questions, you might be dismissed right there and you’re done (I saw one person that had this happen).
10. If you have any potentially interesting items on your filing, the trustee will ask about those.
11. In my case, he asked about the short sale of my house, my business, and the payments to my mother. Then I was dismissed.
45 minutes of waiting around for about 2 minutes of actual somewhat stress. Just smile and realize that you can get through it….
Good job man. I know it feels like your entire finanical life is being looked at, and then you’re being judged. You feel like every person in the room is looking down on you. In the end, everyone has ups, everyone has downs. You can only know and appreciate the sweet, if you’ve had a little sour, right?
Why didn’t you get the girls number?
I found the experience very similar. Some slight differences. Firstly, I was winding up a company – a liquidation where creditors are invited to attend too.
Secondly, it was in the UK where there are lots of similarities in bankruptcy and liquidations but equally differences.
I guess the similarities were the lead-up to it. That was pretty stressful. Especially the bit before where I was being briefed on the awkward questions that creditors would potentially fire at me in an attempt to create guilt and an admission that just wasn’t the truth.
In the end, it was all over with very quickly. While 4 creditors turned up, there were no tricky questions, just procedural stuff.
Thankfully the whole thing has turned around dramatically. The busness failed, we have all since avoided bankruptcy on the personal side, and the new business is thriving.
I’ve found that fretting about stuff when things are really bad and instead tuning into the good things in your life can get you there in the end.
Admitedly, it’s slow at first, but if you keep doing it, bounce back when you have a mental lapse, then eventually the bad stuff starts disappearing to be replaced by the good stuff you’ve been spending your time on.
I’m curious — will you be able to keep making payments to your mother?
Yes, I should be able to keep making payments to my Mother. The trustee did ask about these, but seemed OK with them (even saying “she must have raised you right”).
Hey DK,
So DK, have you thought any more about running or trying to substitute fitness goals for some of the stress you’ve absorbed this past year?
I can’t imagine what a bankruptcy feels like going through. Debt creates so much pressure that the bankruptcy must have felt like the weight went away. Even though it is a permeate mark, like a tattoo, you’re still here to move forward with the past behind you. Pay back your mom and keep your business strong.
Hey DK, Thank you for your blog. I really appreciate what you have shared!
I am just starting the process of BK, with nearly 200K in unsecured debt, personally guaranteed business loans, and vendor accounts. It all added up to the point where it just didn’t make sense to continue. The more we borrowed [hello? the business isn't breaking even!] the higher our overhead. DUH! I guess that for most people reading this, it’s probably too late for them as well, but what I have learned is that working hard is not always enough (especially when borrowing is involved). I had so much faith in myself and in my work ethic; it didn’t cross my mind that we would not make it, or that taking on all of that debt would ultimately sink what was a decent little business. Also, instead of admitting to ourselves that we were failing, we just kept borrowing to float it out, thinking “that’s what you have to do when you start a business!” I was borrowing when I should have been looking at why we weren’t breaking even: Overspending on payroll, rent, vehicles, etc; things that I eventually cut, but too late. And it is true that when it’s not YOUR cash, you don’t pay as close attention.
I read a funny quote recently, I hope it’s okay to put it here. I think it probably applies to a lot of your readers. It was:”If you fail, try again. Then quit. No sense in being a damn fool about it!” Some things just can’t be saved, no matter how good your attitude, no matter how hard you work.
Anyway, it is so nice to know what to expect in more detail. I have never posted a reply before, and I know that this one is rather late, (and long, sorry!) but thank you for sharing!!! Thanks for the break down of the 341 meeting too. You are doing a great thing by sharing your experience. Did I say thank you?
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Thanks for the info on the 341 meeting…ours is tomorrow and I was scared to death until I read your blog.
I'm about to leave the house in 15 minutes to go to my 341 meeting. Thanks for the heads-up!
I just had my creditor meeting today. I was terrified! I’ll get to the specifics in a minute. However, the thing that helped me most was: I THOUGHT the trustee was going to basicly decide then and there if your bankruptcy would be approved or not. That is NOT the case. My attorney told me that is a common mis-conception and NOT the case. The trustee is just looking for money or other “hidden” assets. If you don’t have any, you’re fine. Now for the PROBLEM. Actually, it was o.k. But, what happened was: The trustee was 2 hours behind and my attorney had to leave! He left me with another attornye – absolutely ZILCH help! Didn’t even say one word. Anyway, when I got up there, the trustee did not have most of the docs he needed! I don’t know what happened because I sent them to my attorney. BUT, LUCKILY I brought everything with me and had hard copies. I offered them up to him and allowed him to keep them. I believe that “saved” me. Because, at first I was going to have to come back for a 2nd hearing. However, he decided I did not have to do that because “it wasn’t really my fault or something I needed to take care of…” Whew! However, something I learned….I signed docs at the end of hte day before I got my direct deposti. I believe it was actually “filed” the next day. So, when he looked at my bank statment, there was a $2000 discrepency! Thus, he said I did not have to come back but this WAS an asset case for the $2000. YUCK! My attorney thinks it is a paperwork issue and will be fine. He had me sign somehting this evening and is faxing it to the trustee. I just hope it is all done! VERY emotional and stressful! But, all in all…o.k. A note or two…make SURE you bring ALL paperwork JUST IN CASE and make sure you do not file ANY time near your payday! I “hope” mine is all done now….I still don’t really understand what happens next. Keep me posted if this kind of thing happened to anyone else!
I am in the middle of taking up my free evaluations with different lawyers and trying to get more info on the whole process. I may not need to go through with it but there is a chance that I wil be laidoff in 3 weeks. If that happens, there is no way I will be able to keep up with and payoff what i owe, unfortunately. I already know I will lose my home, I am in the middle of preparing for that as best as anyone can, basically packing things away and getting things in order as best i can. throwing away what’s not needed, etc… I figure, if it does turn out that i will not have to go through with this, atleast the house will be cleaner and the papers I have better organized.
Anyway, I wish everyone luck and enjoy reading up on how everyone is doing. it really does help.
I will keep you all posted.
What if your husband filed bankruptcy before you were married back in 1990 – you didn’t tell your attorney he had filed before, becuase you thought you didn’t have to disclose that since it was so many years ago. Now, at our 341 meeting, and we are asked if you’ve ever filed before???? WHAT DO WE SAY?
Hi – I really appreciated reading everyone’s comments above. My husband and I are in the process of Ch 7 filing, and our hearing is scheduled for July 31. Bankruptcy is somewhere I had hoped never to be – I, too, thought that with my work ethic I could get where we needed to go. My husband has the same work ethic and drive, but a job is the key factor here – he is continuing to search for consistent full-time employment for going on 7 months now.
Although probably an odd question, is there any such things as “bankruptcy support groups”? I ask because I am having a very hard time coming to terms with the fact that this is the step we had to take and how to get past this. I figure that hanging on to the guilt and shame will only hold me back from getting to the right place going forward, so it would be nice to be able to talk through this with others who are like-minded and ready for the right future. We are following Dave Ramsey’s process – we are “snowballing” our student debt and car payments, create a budget every month to “tell our money where to go”, and are living as frugally as possible. (It is kind of fun to try to see how far you can get $50 on groceries – lots of creative meals!)
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I appreciate any suggestions or recommendations.
am getting ready to go to the chapter 7- 341 trustee meeting in 10 days. I received a letter from the trustees office that i have a scheduled phone conversation with the trustee on a set date, before the meeting. I am scared to death that i may say something wrong, what is this all about.
Also i have since my petition was filed rcvd a check from where i retired from in january for leave hours never used. Is this something i need to address with the trustee? Also my husband has 3 cashiers checks for another apt where he is at for health purposes to move me up where he is working after our 341 meeting. Does the trustee need to know about this also?
I heard somewhere if you do no disclose any monies you may have that you may be arrested on the spot for fraud.
Like i said, if there is anyone with some answers for me please help. And can someone tell me why im having a phone conversation 1 week before our 341 meeting?
Thanks.
You don’t have an attorney to answer these simple questions? Lordy, aint you in a world of hurt.
I too was overly optimistic and thought if I just worked hard enough, I’d be ok. Unfortunately, that’s not always true. Sometimes things are beyond your control. For example, my ex-husband of 13 years became addicted to coke – he took the bills out of the mail before I got home from work, was careful to make dinner and serve potent martinis and when I went to bed, he went out looking for crack … My first clue was when I saw that there were 2 BP gas station charges on my card on the same day. He actually had the gall to take my credit cards at night and gas up his tank so he could drive to NYC and score. Imagine: a tall surfer-lookin’ dude playing country music in his pick-up truck at midnight while driving to Harlem 2 hours downstate.
Anyway, I thought I could change him – I thought I was duty-bound by vows to do so. So, I found another job in another state, the company paid for our relocation, I forgave hubby his weaknesses, etc., and then – horribly – found him doing the exact same thing. Stupid. $30K in debt, thank you very much.
Sometimes you just have to give up and say, “I made a mistake” and “can I start over?!”
I was so humiliated and ashamed about (1) being an idiot for standing by him and (2) filing for bankruptcy. I put it off as long as I could – I went through all of my savings when I got laid off – I tried suicide (overdose) thinking my new hubby didn’t deserve all this baggage.
I learned something from that last experience – life IS precious. Get over the shame and the guilt and get a good lawyer – and just keep thinking – “these are all just pieces of paper”.
For some reason, when 9/11 happened I remember seeing all those pieces of paper lying about the streets and falling in shredded pieces from the sky. This process is just filing pieces of paper. Put your ego on hold and do it. YOU are worth more than just that confetti.
Oops, heading downtown for my 341. Thanks for the blog. It helps. J