Yes. When a debtor files a bankruptcy case, he or she is required to attend a hearing titled Section 341, First Meeting of Creditors. This hearing is scheduled approximately 30 to 45 days following the filing of the case.
A debtor filing a Chapter 13 case may also be required to attend his or her confirmation hearing. The confirmation hearing is when the judge assigned to the case approves the repayment plan filed by the debtor. Further, a debtor may be required to attend additional hearings depending on the circumstances of his or her case.
Currently, 341 hearings here in the Northern District of Georgia are being held by telephone so no physical court appearance is required right now.
Click on the links below to see a sample hearing notice:
Covid Update:
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the bankruptcy courts switched over to telephonic hearings. For the foreseeable future, all 341 court hearings will be done by phone.
Although the in-person hearings were not like “Law and Order”, you still had to take off time from work, drive to court, find parking, and go through security to get to your hearing.
Most people do NOT like going to court so the fact that they can now attend their hearing from home, work, or in their car, is a big plus. When you receive your court notice you will see that there is a phone number and special code instead of an actual court location.
While some of our clients still like to come into our offices and call in with us to do their hearings, most clients prefer to just call in from home and then we call in as well for the conference call. The entire call usually lasts about 10 minutes so the process is vert quick!
Click HERE for our video on Phone Hearings.
We invite you to contact us either online or by phone at 404-919-7296 to schedule a FREE confidential consultation to review your personal financial situation and what options we can provide to protect you from creditors. For additional information about bankruptcy please also check out our YouTube Channel which has up to date vlogs on issues related to personal bankruptcy.