The Bankruptcy Court Date Explained By Villa Park Bankruptcy Attorne...

I am often asked, what if the court date that was assigned isn’t good for me?  Do I have to go to that court date or do I get another court date?  The court dates for bankruptcy are set up by the clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy court and they are submitted by the clerk’s office, to the creditor, to the debtor, and to the debtor’s attorney.  

The court date is random and computerized, and not subject to choice.  Therefore, the debtor must be present at that 341 Meeting of Creditors court date, and they must have with them a photo I.D., and proof of their social security card.  In many cases the debtor will receive three to four weeks’ notice prior to that meeting of creditors.  In a rare instance where a debtor is not able to attend, maybe they have an out of town event, maybe there’s a death in the family or maybe there’s an illness; the attorney for the debtor can contact the trustee or the Chapter 13 trustee and seek a continuance. 

In many jurisdictions a continuance is not allowed.  In the State of Illinois the trustees are fairly reasonable in giving at least one continuance if there is a valid reason.  In many cases, the trustee will not know what the next court date is until the first court date has passed.  In that case the trustee will notify the debtor and the debtor’s attorney of the continued court date, the continued time, and the continued location. 

It is very important that the debtor shows up for that meeting of creditors on time with proper identification and proof of their social security card.  In the event that they are late the trustee may not hold the meeting, because creditors may have been there on time, and may have left once the debtor did not arrive on time.  Thus, it’s very important that the client, the debtor, and the debtor’s attorney appear for this 341 Meeting of Creditors, and that they be prepared. 

And by prepared, I mean they have looked over the schedules, they have been apprised of the type of questions that the trustee is going to ask, and they have provided certain documentation such as paycheck stubs, and tax return information to the trustee well in advance of the meeting.  If those items are not received by the trustee, the trustee may not hold the meeting even though the debtor is there and ready to go.  So the best thing to do is to cooperate with the U.S. Trustee’s office, the panel of trustees and the Chapter 13 standing trustees, and follow their directives when it comes to having documentation ready well in advance of the 341 Meeting of Creditors. 

Some trustees will only trust the information by fax, others only by email, and some will only want it by mail.  Find out exactly how that trustee would like their information delivered, and make sure that happens. 

See also, Villa Park Bankruptcy Attorney or call directly, (847) 520-8100.