Mundelein Bankruptcy Lawyer On The Meeting Of Creditors

According to Mundelein bankruptcy lawyer David Siegel, the meeting of creditors is a meeting between the trustee, the debtor that has filed the bankruptcy case and any creditors that decide to show up for this meeting.  At this meeting the debtor will be questioned under oath by the trustee in the case regarding the bankruptcy petition and its truthfulness and accuracy.  In many cases, creditors will not show up to question the debtor even after they have been given notice. 

The meeting of creditors is very fast and generally takes between 10 and 15 minutes for the actual meeting itself.  During this meeting, the trustee will ask the debtor questions regarding the bankruptcy petition in those questions will be to the effect of finding out whether or not the debtor is being truthful with all the information that has been filed with the bankruptcy petition. 

When preparing your clients for the meeting of creditors, it is important to make sure that the client is calm and understands the process of why they are going to this creditors’ meeting.  All of the questions that the bankruptcy trustee will be asking the debtor are questions that the debtor should know already because those questions will come straight off of the bankruptcy petition. 

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the meeting of creditors generally will end with an evaluation of the debtor having no assets to distribute to any creditors.  This is the goal of the 341 meeting in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  For the meeting of creditors in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debtor must also answer similar questions in a Chapter 7; however, at this meeting the trustee will make any changes or request to the attorney to make changes regarding the Chapter 13 payment plan.