What is a 341 Meeting?

A 341 meeting is the time during the bankruptcy proceedings where you are questioned under oath on your financial affairs by your creditors and the bankruptcy trustee. While this may sound stressful, it is actually an informal and short part of the bankruptcy process, and will be the only time you have to appear during the entire bankruptcy filing.

The purpose of a 341 bankruptcy meeting is to clarify facts, not interrogate you. The trustee will ask you questions on your finances in order to be sure that you are correctly reporting everything. Your creditors may also ask you questions, but it is unlikely they will even attend. This part of the process is not where the creditors can be involved in the dismissal or payment plan, so it is not usually worth it for them to attend.

During the meeting, you must just be honest and accurate with your responses. Similarly, if there is anything that you are unsure about, you should ask the trustee about it. The purpose of the meeting is to set the facts straight, so be sure you understand everything. If anything troubling comes out, then there will be a different meeting with a bankruptcy judge to deal with that.

Generally, the 341 meeting will take place around a month after you initially file for bankruptcy. After the meeting, you usually are done with appearing, and you can just wait for the bankruptcy to process and either have your debts dismissed (Chapter 7) or begin the payment plan (Chapter 13). In addition, you must now complete a debtor’s education class in order for the bankruptcy to become complete, so it is wise to do that soon after the 341 meeting.

In summary, the 341 meeting is a small but important part of the bankruptcy process. As long as you are filing in good faith, you have nothing to worry about – you will just answer some questions with your trustee and then leave. After that, you will be well on your way to straightening out your financial situation.

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Graham Billings

Graham Billings is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in Economics and Political Science. He plans to graduate in December of 2009 and then attend law school in the fall of 2010. He is a member of the Economics Club at Carolina, which brings in speakers and hosts events in order to discuss current economic issues and help those who do not have a background in economics become more familiar with it. He is a National Merit Scholar and Dean’s List recipient. He is originally from Greensboro, North Carolina and attended the Early College at Guilford for high school, taking classes at Guilford College. In addition to economics, his academic interests include the legal and political system. He headed the only student-run, high school-level Honor Court in high school and participated in a national model Congress in San Francisco, run by Harvard students, and won awards of excellence for his work on the mock Supreme Court. Additionally, he tutors Carolina students in economics on a volunteer basis.

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