Judges' Questions for Bankruptcy

Meeting of Creditors

Approximately 30 days after you file for bankruptcy, the trustee will schedule a meeting of creditors. This meeting is sometimes called the "341 meeting," named for the section of the bankruptcy code that requires the trustee to hold the meeting. You must attend the meeting, and your creditors may attend. The trustee, as an agent of the court, presides over the 341 meeting. The trustee holds a meeting of creditors in both a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 proceeding.

At the meeting of creditors, you take an oath to tell the truth under penalty of perjury, and the trustee asks you questions. The trustee asks you to authenticate your petition for bankruptcy (verify that you signed the petition and authorized your attorney to file it). The trustee will verify that you understand the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 and will ask you to confirm that you listed all of your property and assets in your bankruptcy petition.

The trustee will also ask you questions about your financial transactions in the 90 days before you filed for bankruptcy. Money you paid to creditors during that period may be considered a "preferential transfer," a transfer of funds that you made to protect a preferred creditor from ending up with nothing in the bankruptcy. If, for instance, you repaid a loan to your mother just before you filed for bankruptcy, the trustee may attempt to collect that payment from your mother and redistribute it among your creditors.

If you file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, the trustee liquidates your assets and divides the proceeds of liquidation among your creditors. The trustee in Chapter 7 asks you questions that probe for assets you did not disclose in your petition. For example, the trustee will ask if you have any litigation claims you can file, such as a personal injury claim resulting from a car accident. If you were to win a personal injury lawsuit that you filed after bankruptcy, the trustee can liquidate some or all of the proceeds of the suit and give them to your creditors.

If you file for bankruptcy under Chapter 13, you may keep your assets, and the trustee will approve a plan for you to repay your creditors. The trustee asks you the same questions about assets that he asks a Chapter 7 petitioner. He also asks questions about your income and expenses, because under Chapter 13, your income and expenses form the basis of your proposed payment plan.