Your Chapter 7 Meeting Checklist

What to Bring With you
Be Prepared and Win

Please Make Sure To Bring:

1-A Government Approved Photo ID  (Make sure your ID is valid and has not expired)
2-Your Social Security Card
3- Copies of your last 2 years Tax Returns. The trustee will normally want to see your tax returns for the last two years, so please be sure to bring them unless for some reason you were not required to file tax returns.
4- A couple of recent pay stubs
The trustee will normally want to see one or two recent pay stubs. Bring a pay stub that shows what your average weekly or biweekly income is. Don't bring a pay stub that shows too much income because of unusual overtime. Don't bring a pay stub that shows too little income because it does not cover a full pay period.

    * If you don’t bring these items with you, you may have to come back again.

If You own Real Estate, please bring:

1- A copy of all of your deeds.
2- A copy of all of your mortgage payoffs, which indicate the balance you still owe on each mortgage.
3- Appraisal or Comparative Market Analysis (to demonstrate the value of your home.)

If you own a house or real estate, the trustee will probably ask you the 4 following questions:

 When did you buy the house or real estate?
 What was the purchase price?
 What is the property worth now? As stated above, you will probably need an appraisal or comparative market analysis to establish the value of the property.
 What is the payoff on any mortgages you owe? For each mortgage, you need to bring a recent payoff statement which says what you still owe to pay off that mortgage in full.

* If you need help in obtaining a market analysis for your property, let us know IN ADVANCE, and we can refer you to people who can perform a market analysis for a reasonable fee.

 If You Own a Car, please bring:

 A copy of  the payoff from your finance company
If you have financed a car, the trustee may ask you to show a payoff statement for each loan that you have obtained.

     Your Chapter 7 Meeting with the Trustee
Usually takes only 5 to 10 minutes

     The Chapter 7 meeting is usually pretty informal and it will take about 5 or 10 minutes in most cases. One of our attorneys will be present at the meeting with you.

     If there are any changes or additions you want to make to your petition, tell your attorney before you go in front of the trustee.  An example of a change would be a new address, new job, adding a new creditor that you might have forgotten, or any other corrections or additions to your original petition.

Meeting with the Trustee/ The 5 Steps:

Step 1:   You will be sworn in by the trustee to tell the truth.

Step 2:   You will present your social security card and a valid government approved photo ID.

Step 3:   You will be asked to verify your signature on the bankruptcy petition. You will also be asked to verify that you reviewed the petition before you signed it, and that you made sure that all the information included in your petition was true and correct.

Step 4:    The Trustee will ask you some very basic and simple questions about your case

Step 5:   After the meeting is concluded, the trustee will usually submit a report to the bankruptcy court to indicate that you qualify for bankruptcy and that you should be approved.  If for some reason the trustee does not feel that your bankruptcy should be approved (this is pretty unusual), the trustee will let us know what has to be done so that your bankruptcy can be approved. 

You will receive your bankruptcy discharge notice about three months after your meeting with the trustee.  Keep this document because it is proof that all of your debts have been legally wiped out.  If any creditor tries to collect in the future and you have listed that creditor in you bankruptcy, the discharge document is your proof that your debts have been wiped out.

Just Relax: You do not have to wait for your discharge notice to begin your fresh start, because all of your creditors have to stop contacting you immediately upon the filing of your bankruptcy.  Therefore, if any creditors contact you directly after you have filed bankruptcy, simply tell them the date you filed Chapter 7, and give them your case number. They will then have to leave you alone. If they continue to contact you, they are violating your rights, and they can be sanctioned and penalized by the bankruptcy court.