David M. Siegel answers in 36 seconds. Watch on YouTube · Read the transcript.
Short answer: The trustee asks yes-or-no questions under oath for five to ten minutes to verify your petition and check whether there are assets to administer. Creditors are entitled to attend but rarely do. In most Chapter 7 cases there is no distribution and the case proceeds to discharge about two months later.
It is not a hearing and there is no judge
The name misleads people. It is called the 341 meeting after the section of the Bankruptcy Code that requires it, and despite being called a hearing it is not one. No judge, no courtroom, no argument, nothing to win or lose.
It is a trustee confirming that the document you signed says what is true. These days it is held on Zoom, which means no travel, no waiting room, and no time off work beyond the few minutes it takes.
What actually gets asked
Did you review the petition before you signed it. Is the information true and correct. Have you listed all of your assets and all of your creditors. Have you filed your tax returns. Has anything changed since filing.
Yes and no answers, five to ten minutes, with your attorney beside you the whole time. The questions are standard and you will have gone through them beforehand. Nothing is designed to catch you out.
Where the creditors are
They are entitled to appear and ask questions. They almost never do. Sending a representative to a Zoom call to ask about a four-thousand-dollar credit card that is about to be discharged is not worth anyone’s time.
When a creditor does appear it is usually a car lender clarifying what you intend to do with the vehicle — a routine question with a prepared answer.
What the trustee is looking for
Assets outside your exemptions that could be sold for the benefit of creditors. In most Chapter 7 cases there is nothing — the exemptions cover the house, the car, the household goods and the retirement accounts, and there is no distribution at all.
That is precisely why the preparation matters more than the meeting. By the time you are on the Zoom, the analysis has already been done. The meeting is where it gets confirmed, and then the clock runs toward discharge.
Nervous about having to answer questions under oath?
The consultation is free and there is no obligation. You will find out what you qualify for, which debts can be eliminated, what it costs, and what the payment plan looks like.
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Your case is handled by phone — you do not need to come into either office. Even the meeting of creditors is held on Zoom. We represent clients across the Northern District of Illinois: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle and Will counties.
Full transcript of the video
what happens at the meeting of creditors the meeting of creditors is the opportunity for creditors to appear although many of them never will it’s really more likely gonna be the trustee asking yes no questions to verify the information in the petition to get the information from the debtor under oath and to see whether or not there’s any assets that could be administered for the benefit of creditors in most Chapter 7 cases there is no distribution to creditors there are no assets that the trustee can take and the case will proceed to a discharge approximately two months after that meeting of creditors
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About the author. David M. Siegel has represented consumer bankruptcy clients in the Northern District of Illinois since 1991 and is the author of several books on consumer bankruptcy. The firm has offices at 790 Chaddick Drive, Wheeling, IL 60090 and 10540 S. Western Ave, Suite 202, Chicago, IL 60643, and handles cases by phone for clients throughout the Chicago area.
This article is general information about Illinois and federal bankruptcy law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts — speak with an attorney about yours.