When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you are required to attend the creditors meeting before receiving your discharge. The main agenda of the meeting is to give the creditors and the bankruptcy trustee the opportunity to have a better understanding of your financial situation. Here are some of the things to be discussed at the meeting:

Why You Are Making the Application

The trustee and the creditors need to be convinced of your need for bankruptcy application. You should only apply for bankruptcy if you can't pay your debts, so they want to ascertain that this is the situation you are in. They will do this by evaluating different factors, such as:

• Whether you have considered consolidating your debts
• Whether you are making your credit card payments
• Whether bill collectors have been calling you
• Whether you know your total debts

For example, if you don't know how much you owe, and you have been making some payments towards your credit card debts, it might be that your financial situation is salvageable. However, you may be a prime candidate for bankruptcy if you have tried debt consolidation but still can't afford to make the repayments.

The Repayments You Have Made In the Recent Past

The bankruptcy process is designed to give fair treatment to all creditors. Therefore, the creditors will also use the meeting to confirm that this is the case. The confirmation involves confirming whether you have repaid some of your creditors in the recent past to see if and why you prioritized their debts.

For example, recent repayments (within the last 90 days) to family members indicate a preference for them, which is an abuse of the bankruptcy process. Other repayments that may raise red flags include those made to business associates and friends.

The Nature of Your Assets

The creditors meeting will also delve into your assets with special emphasis on these four things:

• Recent assets (properties and money) transfers
• Total value of your assets
• Business you own or have owned in the past
• Your total income

This helps the creditors and trustee to understand how much money the creditors can expect from you after the discharge. It also helps them to know whether you hid some assets just before filing for bankruptcy—a move that can jeopardize your application.

These are just three examples of the discussions to expect at the creditors meeting. Take it seriously and carry all the things a bankruptcy lawyer like John D Rouse will advise you to carry before the meeting.