What is a 341 Hearing?
After the petition for bankruptcy is filed the court establishes a 341 hearing. This is a hearing in which the debtor must appear before the trustee with his or her bankruptcy attorney. The purpose of the meeting is to answer specific questions about the bankruptcy petition.Your bankruptcy lawyer should prepare you for the hearing. The name for the hearing is taken from the section of the bankruptcy code – hence the name 341. It is also called a “Creditor’s Meeting”.
In the Birmingham bankruptcy courts the 341 hearing is usually very quickly and simply done. Further, it does not last very long- usually taking less than ten minutes. The trustee is interested in doing the following: Placing the debtor under oath, verifying the debtor’s name and address, whether he’s listed all his creditors, confirming that he has listed all his property, and he has met with his attorney. This hearing is the first step in the administration of a bankruptcy case. The debtor is required to attend this meeting of creditors as soon as the case is filed in the answer any questions the creditors may have. This meeting also allows the creditors to question the debtor under oath without having to take a deposition. The trustee has a lot of discretion in how he conducts this examination and how the Creditor’s Meetings are conducted depends not only the size and complexity of the debtor’s finances and assets, but also the issues involved. Most are handled as a matter of routine and are quickly concluded.