All our cases are filed with the court electronically, so “filing \u00a0the case” happens almost instantly. \u00a0As soon as the case is filed, the court sends out formal, written notice to all necessary parties, including all your creditors \u2013 and your creditors must immediately cease all collection efforts. \u00a0This \u201cautomatic stay\u201d is the first great benefit of bankruptcy \u2013 no more collection calls, no more garnishments, no more lawsuits \u2013 all collections must stop and wait until we figure out exactly what the bankruptcy is going to do.<\/p>\n

In most cases, you will not need to appear personally before the court, ever \u2013 but there is one mandatory appearance, called the \u201ccreditors\u2019 meeting\u201d or, more commonly, the \u201c341 meeting,\u201d after the code section that requires it. As the name implies, creditors MAY attend this meeting, but they rarely do; in fact the primary purpose is for your case trustee to interview you about your case. \u00a0Many people are very nervous about this appearance, as if the judge were going to send them to prison or some such thing, but it\u2019s not like that at all. \u00a0Most of the trustee\u2019s questions are routine, and when we don\u2019t have some specific information the trustee wants, we get it to \u2018em later, no problem. \u00a0And, in any event, I will be there with you, personally, to take care of anything that might come up. \u00a0My standard advice for 341 meetings is:<\/p>\n

Answer the trustee\u2019s questions honestly, then shut up!<\/em>\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to be rude, but most of the time when folks try to explain their answers, they\u2019re just wasting everybody\u2019s time. \u00a0The trustees are not shy, and if they\u2019ve got more questions, they\u2019ll ask \u2018em. And don\u2019t be afraid of a little silence; usually there are periods of silence after people\u2019s answers, while the trustee figures out what the next question is. \u00a0Just wait, then answer the next question. \u00a0It\u2019ll be over before you know it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After the case is filed, but before you get your discharge, you must complete a financial management course<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If yours is a Chapter 13 case, of course you\u2019ll have to make your monthly payments; but otherwise, after the 341 meeting, it\u2019s mostly just a matter of waiting for the discharge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All our cases are filed with the court electronically, so “filing \u00a0the case” happens almost instantly. \u00a0As soon as the case is filed, the court sends out formal, written notice to all necessary parties, including all your creditors \u2013 and your creditors must immediately cease all collection efforts. \u00a0This \u201cautomatic stay\u201d is the first great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":183,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-148","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post"],"yoast_head":"\n