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In the overwhelming majority of cases, the Meeting of Creditors (also called the “341 Meeting,” because it is authorized by Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code) is about 5 minutes long, no creditors appear, and the Meeting consists of Trustee going through a series of standard questions. Why, then, do most of my clients hear the words “Meeting of Creditors” and get a mental image of being seated in a straight-backed chair in a large, darkened room, with a spotlight in their face, and their creditors in hooded robes chanting around them?

The answer, I think, lies solely in the name. “Meeting of Creditors” suggests that creditors have something to do with the meeting. However, unless you are involved in a business bankruptcy or a domestic dispute, the odds are that creditors have nothing to ask you at the Meeting, and don’t want to pay someone to attend. In a Chapter 13 case, they get paid through the Chapter 13 Plan, and in a Chapter 7 case, there rarely is any basis for objecting to your discharge, so they don’t appear.

If the Meeting were named the “Trustee’s Meeting,” a more accurate description of what normally occurs, people wouldn’t be quite so afraid of what might happen.

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