About a month after your case is filed, you must meet with the trustee. This meeting is usualy called "the first meeting of creditors" or "the 341 meeting". It is called the "first meeting of creditors" because, in the old days, creditors apparently would come to the meeting. It is very unusual for a creditor to attend nowadays (unless it is someone who is personally mad at you, like an ex-spouse!) It is sometimes called the "341 meeting" because that is the section of the bankrupcy code that requires you to come to the meeting.
Most of my trustee meetings are in St. Cloud. We meet at the Red Cross building, across the street from the new public library. Depending on the trustee, there are between three and five creditors schedules per-half half, so the trustee is only allocating between six and ten minutes per case. The room is set up with tables at one end, where the trustee sits, and movable chairs at the other end, where we sit and wait for your name to be called.
When your name is called, we get up, go to the tables, and sit down across from the trustee. You must show the trustee the following: a) your driver's license, b) your Social Security card; c) the bank statement(s) that show your bank balance on the date you filed; and d) your most recent paystub (if you are employed).
The trustee will ask you around twenty questions. The questions are, generally, as follows:
1) what is your name; 2) what is your address; 3) what is your phone number; 4) have you read the "bankruptcy information sheet"; 5) did you sign the bankruptcy papers? 6) did you read the papers before signing them; 7) is all of the information true and correct; 8) are there any mistakes to bring to the trustee's attention; 9)) within the 90 days before you filed bankruptcy, did you pay an unsecured creditor amounts that would add up to $600 or more; 10) within the year before you filed, did you pay a relative or friend $600 or more; 11) within the 90 days before you filed did someone take something from you, as by a garnishment or repossession; 12) within the six years before you filed, did you transfer something to a relative or friend that would have been worth $1,000 or more; 13) if you own a home, do you live there? 14) if you own a home, what is it worth, and how much do you owe against it; 15) how did you determine the value of your home; 16) do you intend to stay in the home; 17) have you ever been in business for yourself; 18) if you have, when did you start and when did you stop; 19) if you have been in business, are there any assets remaining from that business?; 20) do you own anything not listed in your bankruptcy papers; 21) do you expect to inherit within the next year; 22) if you do inherit, do you understand that you have to notify the trustee of that fact.
Once the trustee has finished, he or she will usually say "Thank you" and (hopefully) "That concludes this meeting. You are then free to leave.
