341 meeting letter received- A ? for pro se filers

[LadyinAL]

I received my letter for my 341 meeting date and Trustee name. My meeting is July 7th. Does the Trustee send a letter requesting my tax return or any other documents or do I just send them in. Also, my husband did not file bankruptcy with me can he send the Proof of Service by mail for me to deliver documents or is that not allowed.

[justbroke]

Personally, I would call the Trustee's office and ask what documentation that they want prior to the 341 Meeting. Most Trustee's have a website with details on just what they want. I would visit the website and still make that phone call. It could save you from a "continued" 341 Meeting!

Unless you're in a community property state, I think that your husband can serve papers since he is not the debtor. If you're serving something more formal like a "complaint" (adversary proceeding), I "might" have someone else serve the papers. If you're just mailing off your forms to the Trustee, that's not "service of process". The only things that you need served on creditors are things that go on the Docket (PACER).

[LadyinAL]

I was not sure if I needed to do a proof of service when sending my documents to the Trustee. Just to clarify..it is ok for me to just mail my own tax documents to the Trustee. I did get a notice today from the court that I did not sign my SOI form. LOL, just when I thought I go through with my paperwork ok..I'll go to court and ammend it tomorrow. I'm glad it was just that.

[justbroke]

You don't need "proof of service" when mailing things -- other than official "papers" required to be filed with the court -- to the Trustee. I might, however, send them "certified mail" with "return receipt requested" so that you have proof of delivery. As far as the SOI, you should ask a "procedural" question from your Case Manager in the Clerk's office. You may be required to re-serve it upon all the affected creditors. In that case, you would be best served by having your non-debtor husband serve the SOI on the creditors (and the Trustee).

[LadyinAL]

JustBroke, I did speak to the Case Manager, she said to come in with the signature page(signed), I never included the page when I filed. Thanks again on the mailing information. I wanted to be clear how certain documents needed to served.

[justbroke]

JustBroke, I did speak to the Case Manager, she said to come in with the signature page(signed), I never included the page when I filed. Thanks again on the mailing information. I wanted to be clear how certain documents needed to served.

You are still required to, by procedure, serve the "Statement of Intentions" upon the creditors in interest and the Trustee.

Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Rule 1007 (2) An individual debtor in a chapter 7 case shall file a statement of intention as required by § 521(a) of the Code, prepared as prescribed by the appropriate Official Form. A copy of the statement of intention shall be served on the trustee and the creditors named in the statement on or before the filing of the statement.

[LadyinAL]

Ok, I ammended my SOI form on Tuesday(6/14/2011), I did serve the Trustee with. I just checked Pacer and on the Show cause hearing(for that form) it states Terminated dated yesterday(6/15/2011). Is that a good thing?

[justbroke]

Ok, I ammended my SOI form on Tuesday(6/14/2011), I did serve the Trustee with. I just checked Pacer and on the Show cause hearing(for that form) it states Terminated dated yesterday(6/15/2011). Is that a good thing?

Yes, it means you are in compliance. You should also have a general 11 USC 521 docket entry at some point indicating that you filed ALL forms required to be filed so far.

[LadyinAL]

Ok, thank you I was worried for a minute. I do see the entries. I was reading about the fee waiver, I filed for the waiver but based on the numbers my household income falls just above the 150% requirement, now that I see that I am most likely to get denied by the judge. Should I go to hearing anyway(June 30th) or amend and apply for installments payments. My husbands income is the majority now and he is not filing with me. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to make too many amendments and be frowned upon by the courts for being Pro Se filer making mistakes.

[justbroke]

It's up to the Judge and you may be able to squeeze back other due to "current" circumstances (and not the "current monthly income" calculation). You should always attend any hearing when you are pro se, even though many last less then 5 minutes!

[LadyinAL]

I do plan to go to my court date but was not sure if I amended to pay the filing fee in installments would I still have to go to court. I have been more nervous now since I filed than prior. I will be glad when I can go to this 341 meeting and then wait til all of this over.

[justbroke]

There is no ruling yet, so how can you know to pay in installments. What I highly suggest is this. Prepare a Motion to Pay in Installments and bring it with you! If the Judge denies the application for waiver of the fees, inform the Judge that you'll be immediately filing a motion to pay in installments (I think this is just another form as well). If you're lucky, the Judge will probably allow you to pay in installments as part of the order denying the waiver of fees.

[LadyinAL]

I am sorry. I was assuming I could file a motion before going to court for the fee. I understand I will just wait for the hearing then.

[justbroke]

The reason why you wait, is because you do not know what the Judge is going to say at this point. However, I would be prepared to run to the clerk's office after the hearing and file the installment motion, should the Judge rule against your fee waiver application.

[LadyinAL]

***Update*** I had my hearing for the filing fee this morning. I was denied due to the household income being over just $500 of the Guidelines limit for a family of 5, I figured it would be denied anyway, so I was not too surprised lol. The judge seemed pretty fair from my observation on other cases that were called before mines, some lawyers were not even prepared and she let them know about it too. I felt bad for them. I was pretty nervous. I think I was the only Pro-Se filer. I thought she was gonna give me a hard time but she did not. She did grant me to pay the fee installments. Next Thursday is my 341 meeting I hope that goes well, so I can breathe a sigh of relief.