We arrived about half an hour early and were told the 341 meetings for this particular trustee had been moved to another floor owing to the deluge of BK filers. The room was packed and we sat down for the long wait.
The trustee was businesslike but still managed a smile here and there. There was one couple who had 3 homes, 3 cars, an income of about $8,000 monthly who were really getting grilled. If this wasn't enough, when the trustee was finished with them, a woman sitting at the table introduced herself as the US Trustee and said that she had further questions. She grilled them for another 5 minutes and it was clear that these people would be forced into a Ch. 13 at best. Thankfully the US Trustee didn't reappear again while we were there.
Most of the filers were represented by lawyers, though there were a few pro se filers like myself. Once he had finished a timeblock, the trustee addressed us saying that if we wanted a discharge we were to fully cooperate with him, and that our cases wouldn't be closed unless and until he had received our tax refund checks. I was a little disappointed but what can you do. Not that I'm expecting such a large refund anyway.
His questions were :
Is everything you filled in the questionaire true? (This is the questionaire we received from him before the meeting and contained the usual questions about inheritance, creditors, lawsuits, payments over $600 etc.)
Who helped you fill in the forms?
Where did you get the forms from?
Where do you work?
What is your home address?
Your phone number?
That's all I was asked. He asked for my 2004 tax return, looked at it briefly and returned it to me. He asked for nothing else. It was very quick, maybe 2 minutes.
For some people (not me) he made them sign a stipulation that they would send him their tax refund checks. I presume that it was for those with higher refunds. For others, he would ask about anything unusual that stood out eg. large and unexplained deposits, properties etc. By and large though, for most people it was a 2 minute affair. The ones that were unprepared or hiding something were given a longer grilling.
And that summarizes my 2 painless minutes that I was dreading so much beforehand.
Edit
I forgot to add:
(1) Mine was a no asset case. I filed using the form7.com software.
(2) No creditors turned up for all the cases that I witnessed.
(3) I was disappointed with the quality of the lawyers. Without exception, all the unprepared cases and all the other cases which were heavily grilled were those with lawyers present. Most of them just sat silently while their clients squirmed in their seats looking for answers. It was as if they were totally unfamiliar with their clients' cases. The 4 pro se cases I saw were all 2 minute affairs. Makes you wonder.
The trustee was businesslike but still managed a smile here and there. There was one couple who had 3 homes, 3 cars, an income of about $8,000 monthly who were really getting grilled. If this wasn't enough, when the trustee was finished with them, a woman sitting at the table introduced herself as the US Trustee and said that she had further questions. She grilled them for another 5 minutes and it was clear that these people would be forced into a Ch. 13 at best. Thankfully the US Trustee didn't reappear again while we were there.
Most of the filers were represented by lawyers, though there were a few pro se filers like myself. Once he had finished a timeblock, the trustee addressed us saying that if we wanted a discharge we were to fully cooperate with him, and that our cases wouldn't be closed unless and until he had received our tax refund checks. I was a little disappointed but what can you do. Not that I'm expecting such a large refund anyway.
His questions were :
Is everything you filled in the questionaire true? (This is the questionaire we received from him before the meeting and contained the usual questions about inheritance, creditors, lawsuits, payments over $600 etc.)
Who helped you fill in the forms?
Where did you get the forms from?
Where do you work?
What is your home address?
Your phone number?
That's all I was asked. He asked for my 2004 tax return, looked at it briefly and returned it to me. He asked for nothing else. It was very quick, maybe 2 minutes.
For some people (not me) he made them sign a stipulation that they would send him their tax refund checks. I presume that it was for those with higher refunds. For others, he would ask about anything unusual that stood out eg. large and unexplained deposits, properties etc. By and large though, for most people it was a 2 minute affair. The ones that were unprepared or hiding something were given a longer grilling.
And that summarizes my 2 painless minutes that I was dreading so much beforehand.
Edit
I forgot to add:
(1) Mine was a no asset case. I filed using the form7.com software.
(2) No creditors turned up for all the cases that I witnessed.
(3) I was disappointed with the quality of the lawyers. Without exception, all the unprepared cases and all the other cases which were heavily grilled were those with lawyers present. Most of them just sat silently while their clients squirmed in their seats looking for answers. It was as if they were totally unfamiliar with their clients' cases. The 4 pro se cases I saw were all 2 minute affairs. Makes you wonder.
Did you receive this questionaire in the mail prior to the meeting date? How about other forms or documents asked for, such as bank statements and pay stubs? Thanks for your input!!
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