Taking little ones to 341 meeting

[rilbrianne]

Hello everyone!
My meeting is on September 20th and I may have to take my youngest daughter, 8 months old, with me. My oldest, 4 yrs old, will be in school during out meeting so that's good news. I don't have anyone who can watch the baby though. Believe me, I have looked. I know it isn't a good idea but what else am I supposed to do??

Have any of you ever HAD to take your child and what happened? I assume that a 5 minute meeting shouldn't be too much for my daughter, I'm sure she won't cause a disruption although I also know it's very unprofessional to carry a child into court and I don't want to make the trustee angry. Any suggestions??

[JRScott]

Well its not really 5 minutes. There was a couple that brought a child at the time of my 341 meeting.

The child did start to cause a ruckuss after a while. Keep in mind our appointments started about 30 minutes late because the Trustee was running behind due to several difficult cases.

The Trustee called for the couple's lawyer (think he was the 2nd or 3rd lawyer's clients called up). He then did one or two and kept looking in the direction of the unruly child. You could tell he was distracted and upset they brought the child.

He then called another name. Fella stood up. Then he said "Wait sit back down." Turned to the couple with the child. "What's your names?" They told him. He motioned them forward to the chair and reshuffled his pile of folders. He then held their meeting outside his normal order. He was not as congenial to them (or the guy who showed up late) as he was to others. He also appeared to ask them more questions.

I do not know the final fate of their case or if it had any longterm effect.

[rilbrianne]

Yikes, I'm SO glad you mentioned that. I never thought about the time before our actual meeting. Ours is 9am so I wonder if we'll be the first group. Oh boy...

[HHM]

I would not bring them if at all possible.

I know in my district, they will NOT let children into the actual room where the 341 meeting is held. Children must wait in the waiting area.

[lrprn]

rilbrianne, I know it's not ideal, but there are bonded professional babysitting services available in most larger towns. Check online and in the Yellow Pages.

When I was an RN in children's hospitals, out-of-town families often used these services for the day one of their children was in surgery so they could concentrate on their sick child and not worry about keeping their other small children happy and content for the hours they had to wait.

Might be worth checking out to cover the few hours you'll be driving and in court. Just a thought....

[tradewiz50]

Do Not Bring Your Child To A 341 Meeting, If You Want Your Meeting To Go As Smoothly As Possible!!!

[guzzie]

try and get sitter.....my meeting was for 9 am and I actually went in before 9:00....you may be the first on the dockett that morning....children were outside my meeting room....trustee did not tolerate interruptions of any sort....tough cookie...I think you'll work it out ...you have time yet....good luck

[rilbrianne]

No, I don't want to piss off the trustee! My life is in his hands!

My meeting is in Flint, MI. I'm in Owosso, about 1/2 hour east of Flint. The woman that is taking my daughter to school might be able to watch the baby. She is going to see if she can put one of the kids in the front seat and fit the baby in w/ her.

So, it might work out... if not, someone is going to have to deal w/ a baby w/ separation anxiety! But one thing is for sure, that someone won't be the Trustee!

Thanks everyone. I know how to be professional but this is one of the issues that arise when you have little children. I sure don't want to be the one people are staring at because "she's dumb enough to bring her kid?!"

[Lindsay]

I'd definitely try to have someone watch the little one for the meeting. Some people really dislike small children for some reason. I'm a mother of 3 so I know! We took our children everywhere when they were younger and they were very well-behaved. However, we would still get dirty looks from intolerant people alot. I realize that alot of kids aren't well-behaved in public places, but mine usually were and we'd still get some mean people glaring at us!

Another thing though is that children can pick up stress. A stressful atmosphere like a 341 meeting could make the baby nervous and upset. The baby may also sense your own nervousness. I'd say to try to find a babysitter and only bring the baby as a last resort.

[freshstart06]

There was a couple at our 341 meeting time that took all three of their children to the meeting. NO problems. If your did not receive a notice that states DO NOT BRING CHILDREN, then you can bring them. It is hard when you have kids and no babysitter, plus you don't want just anyone watching your kids. Call the trustee and ask if it is okay, that is the only one that can tell you for sure. My trustee was such a sweetie, he let the people with the kids go first because he knows how kids can get. Too bad they forgot their social security cards.

The meeting is so fast your kids will not even have a chance to act up.

[DisneyGirl]

We brought our children to the 341 meeting and we had talked to our lawyer about it before hand. She understood our situation (two special needs kids, can't just leave them with "anyone" type deal). They were 3 1/2 and 2 at the time. We brought them in a double stroller with some little snacks and we sat in the back. We had no problems at all during the meeting. Our actual meeting only lasted about 5 min if that.

[almostfinished]

We took all 4 of ours with us. We had no choice, it was in the middle of summer break. We had my 2 bio kids (4 & 9) & DH's two (4 & 8) were here for their summer visitation. They were all very well behaved & the trustee didn't mind at all. We asked our attorney in advance & he said that it was fine.

Of course walking in there with 4 kids & filing chapter 7, who would expect that we could afford daycare.

[finallyfree!]

Yeah, if you can, get a child sitter! They less time and scrutiny there is spent on YOU the better! My meeting was about 5 mins, and I was really happy that my lawyer, a lady, knew the Trustee, a man, really well. He basically breezed thru mine while they were chatting! That's the way it seemed anyway! He DID ask me how 2 of my cards got so high, which was kinda uncomfortable, and I just kinda played dumb, and said I don't know. My lawyer said that the less I say the better. There were a few other people in the room watching and waiting for THEIR turn, and I did not know if any of them were creditors or not. They were just other filers too! Good Luck!

[freshstart06]

If it is allowed in your district to bring your kids believe it or not it will show that you can afford a babysitter. Unless there is something you are hiding, which I know you are not you case should not be a problem just the typical 5 mins general questions. I did not believe anyone on this board that stated how easy the meeting is but it is really easy and over so fast you. It is true, you will get an idea about you case during the meeting. The less questions means the best results.