Louisville Kentucky 341 Hearing: What Should I Expect?
Once you file a Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy in Louisville Kentucky, your case is assigned to a trustee. The trustee’s job is to oversee your bankruptcy process from start to finish. This includes investigating your assets and dispersing money to your creditors. The trustee essentially makes sure you are not hiding anything, and reviews your paperwork to ensure that it was completed correctly. Part of this process is conducted during what is referred to as a meeting of creditors, also called a 341 hearing.
Your trustee begins working on your case as soon as it is filed. Some of the things he or she will examine include your expenses, income and debts. All this information should be listed on the bankruptcy paperwork. Your income is easy enough to check with regards to a job by reviewing tax returns and paycheck stubs; however, the trustee also looks for things such as investment portfolios and other places where income might be lurking. A primary responsibility of the trustee is to make sure that bankruptcy fraud is not being committed.
What Is Louisville Kentucky 341 Hearing?
The 341 hearing gives the trustee as well as your creditors the opportunity to discuss anything in the paperwork with you. You are required to attend the hearing. The trustee presides over the meeting, meaning a judge will not be there. Your creditors have the right to attend, though many will choose not to in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Your 341 hearing must be scheduled no sooner than 21 calendar days and no later than 40 calendar days from the date you filed your bankruptcy paperwork in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a Chapter 13 it is usually held between 30 and 60 days after filing the petition. While it is informal, you are sworn in to tell the truth and the meeting is recorded.
You must bring photo identification with you as well as your social security card or other valid proof of your social security number, such as a letter from the social security office verifying your number. If you arrive without both an ID and social security document, your trustee can cancel the meeting and reschedule for a later date at which time you will still have to provide these documents. The trustee may request that you bring additional income, debt, or asset documentation in addition to the documents that are filed with the petition.
The trustee will ask you questions based on what he or she sees in your paperwork. Examples of possible question topics include:
- Why you filed bankruptcy
- Whether you have paid any creditors or relatives money owed during the past three months
- Marital status
- Whether you gave away or sold property in the past few years
- How many dependents you have
- How you arrived at the value of your property listed in the bankruptcy
- Whether you own a business now or have owned one in the past
If any of your creditors come to the meeting, the trustee will then allow them to question you about your intentions regarding the debt to them, your income or assets, or your intentions with regard to secured property still in your possession.
Once everything is in order, the trustee will end the meeting and proceed with your bankruptcy. The trustee will continue the meeting and ask you to return with additional paperwork or changes to original documents if the trustee needs additional information, determines that you need to amend the paperwork you filed, or if you did not include all necessary documentation. You have the right to bring an attorney with you. An attorney experienced in Louisville Kentucky bankruptcy will be able to file your paperwork for you and guide you through the 341 hearing as well as help you in answering questions if your creditors do show up.