For my clients, the meeting of creditors is by far the most intimidating part of the bankruptcy process. Just yesterday I had a client tell me after her meeting that she had been having nightmares about creditors showing up to wag their fingers at her and force her to explain all her credit card purchases.
Fortunately, the meeting of creditors is far from a nightmare. Despite its name, it is a fairly anti-climatic experience. As I have written before, the trustee will swear you in and then follow a script with a series of questions, such as your name and address; where you work; and whether you have any changes to make to your petition. All told, you’ll be sitting with the trustee for around five minutes. Remember, the trustee isn’t a judge. He’s not even a magistrate. He has no judicial powers. He is there to administer the bankruptcy estate in the event there is anything to distribute to your creditors. Your attorney should go over what the trustee will be asking and anticipate whether he will go “off script” on any particular issue. Most importantly, though, you should answer truthfully, even if it means having to give up some property or paying your creditors something. Otherwise, you might be faced with a dismissal of your case.
The meeting is also an opportunity for creditors to show up and ask questions. This is rare, though. The only time a creditor might show up is to ask about property that is securing a loan. The creditor may ask the court to allow them to proceed with any repossession lawsuit that they have started or want to start.
But a debtor isn’t necessarily out of the woods just because a creditor doesn’t show up to the meeting. Creditors can still object to your bankruptcy discharge even if they don’t show up. In fact, they have 60 days after your meeting date to object. At that point, you and your attorney will have to discuss whether or not to fight the objection, based on their grounds.