Bankruptcy - Conley Law, LLC

What to Expect in Your 341 Meeting

Conley Law, LLC — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 23:35:28 GMT

Firstly, all Ohio bankruptcy 341s are held over Zoom. It’s common to attend the meeting from your own home, but you can come into your attorney’s office as well. If you are one of our clients and wish to come in office, you just need to let us know.

The meeting is a Court hearing and you need to treat it as such. That means that you should not wear hats or inappropriate clothing. Wear what you would wear in person to Court. You would probably be surprised at how many people have to be chastised by the Trustee for wearing inappropriate clothing. Or worse, not even wearing a shirt.

You need to be in a stable location with no one else present. You can take the meeting from a car, but it cannot be in motion. It needs to be parked. At home you should be seated. Don’t be in the meeting while laying down. You need to be visible on camera and your sound working, both for you to hear and the Trustee to hear you.

You need to download Zoom before the meeting. You will open the app on your computer, phone, or tablet and select to join. Copy and paste or type in the meeting ID and make sure your name is listed below the meeting ID. On the next page you will copy and paste or type in the passcode. Then follow the prompts and you will be put in the waiting room.

From here, each Trustee handles things differently. Some Trustees will bring everyone in the meeting and you will wait until it’s your turn and be able to observe the other meetings. Some Trustees will send you to a separate breakout rooms and you will wait until it’s your turn. Some Trustees will leave you in the waiting room until it is your turn so it will just be you and your attorney in the meeting.

If you are brought in and are waiting until it is your turn, leave your camera off and microphone muted. You will turn these on when it is your turn. Moving the mouse over the screen or tapping the screen will show video and microphone icons. By pressing these you can turn your camera and microphone on and off.

There are typically several meetings scheduled for every half hour or hour session. You could be called at any point during that session. Some times the meetings run behind for various reasons. Be patient. If there is an issue, your attorney will let you know.

The meeting itself is mostly for verification questions. If you filed jointly with a spouse, one of you should speak first followed by the other. Before the meeting decide on the order you will speak. Make sure you speak loud enough that you can be heard. You should not have side conversations with each other. You should only address the Trustee or your attorney.

The beginning of the meeting is simple. The Trustee will place you under oath and ask some basic questions. These questions can include your name, address, and age. The Trustee will also ask if you read and understood the bankruptcy information sheet. Your attorney will have provided this to you. If you are a Conley Law client, we shared this with you in the portal. You should say yes that you read and understood it. If you say no, your meeting may be continued to a new date. If you have questions, ask your attorney before the meeting.

Next the Trustee will ask you questions about your financial situation. These will match the questions you had to answer to prepare your petition. Most of your answers should be yes or no, or simple answers like stating the year, make, and model of your vehicle. Try not to provide extra details. This will speed up the process. If the Trustee needs extra information, they will ask for it.

Each Trustee is different on what they will ask you. But they should all be easy for you to answer. For example, they will ask about your employment and sources of income, real estate and vehicles that you have owned, bank accounts, if the provided tax returns are a true and accurate copy, and if you transferred anything.

It is very common to be nervous for the 341. But there shouldn’t be any reason to be nervous. If you were truthful and disclosed everything to your bankruptcy attorney, they will have warned you about any potential issue before you filed.

The Trustee may ask for some additional documents. This is not necessarily an issue. In most cases it is just to verify information. If there is a problem, your attorney will let you know. Even then, there are usually solutions your attorney can come up with.

That’s the end for the 341 overview. Hopefully this puts you at ease going forward. If you are a client and have any questions, please reach out.

You can watch a video of this information here.

Bankruptcy Myths Debunked

Conley Law, LLC — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:04:36 GMT

Bankruptcy is complex and confuses many people. The confusion is increased by the large amount of myths on the internet regarding bankruptcy. Here at Conley Law, we are committed to educating the public regarding bankruptcy. Hopefully this increased education will help people be less afraid and seek the help they need.

Bankruptcy Myth 1: I’m a failure if I file bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is a tool to use when you need it. Bankruptcy is meant to get you out of a financial hole that you realistically cannot get out of. Bankruptcy protects you from the fire consequences of not addressing your debts, like repossession, foreclosure, and garnishment. Your bankruptcy attorney and trustee don’t judge you for needing to file. We want you to file so you can receive the help you need. You are not a failure for seeking the help that you deserve.

Bankruptcy Myth 2: I’ll lose my property if I file bankruptcy.

Your bankruptcy attorney will apply exemptions to protect your property. In Ohio, bankruptcy attorneys typically use R.C. 2329.66 to protect your property. R.C. 2329.66(A)(1)(b) protects $185,625 in equity per person for real estate that you or your dependent lives at. R.C. 2329.66(A)(2) protects $5,025 in equity per person for a motor vehicle. R.C. 2329.66(A)(10) protects the entire balance of a qualified retirement account. These exemptions periodically get updated, with the most recent update occurring on April 1, 2025. If there is an amount that cannot be protected, it is possible to pay to keep the property.

Bankruptcy Myth 3: Debt settlement is better than bankruptcy.

Many people try debt settlement and other options before filing bankruptcy. These options usually don’t work and put them in a worse situation. The basic concept is that these companies tell you to stop paying your debts and to start sending them money instead. Then these companies will try and settle debts for you.

These companies don’t tell you many things though. This process increases the amount of debt that you owe because your accounts are incurring interest and fees that you would not have had otherwise. Even with a settlement, you often will pay the same or more because of the added interest and fees.

These companies also don’t tell you that your creditors do not have to agree to anything and will still often times sue and garnish you. Many times, these companies will then proceed to offer you a loan to repay your creditors instead, and this way they can charge you insanely high interest rates and fees.

Even when a settlement is reached, these companies charge a large percentage of the forgiven debt, and you will owe taxes on the forgiven debt.

Bankruptcy solves all these issues. Bankruptcy does not increase the amount of debt that you owe, instead it discharges the debt. Even in chapter 13, interest is not typically added to your debt. Bankruptcy protects you from lawsuits and garnishments. Bankruptcy is upfront with you instead of deceiving you.

Bankruptcy Myth 4: Bankruptcy will destroy my credit.

Bankruptcy can negatively impact your credit score, but this impact lessens over time. For many people, bankruptcy improves their credit score. This happens because most people’s credit score is already low when they file bankruptcy, and their outstanding debt is taken care of and not lowering their credit score. Additionally, our Ohio bankruptcy attorney partners with Evergreen for the required courses you must take when you file for bankruptcy. When you complete the required courses through Evergreen, they give you the 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score for no extra cost. This bonus course educates you on how you can get your credit score as high as 720 in as soon as two years after filing bankruptcy.

The more important aspect to consider is what you can do with your credit after filing for bankruptcy. It’s possible to get a car loan as soon as a day after filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy and after confirmation after filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy. Here at Conley Law, we partner with the First Step Auto Loan Program to get clients into new vehicles. You can also qualify for a mortgage as soon as two years after a chapter 7 bankruptcy, or after twelve on-time payments in a chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy Myth 5: Bankruptcy can’t deal with student loans.

For years people have believed that student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy. This was not true, dispute other bankruptcy attorneys stating so. It used to be more difficult to resolve student loans through bankruptcy, but it wasn’t impossible. As of November 2022, it is now easier than ever to discharge student loans through bankruptcy. The US Department of Justice now uses an attestation process to work with the US Department of Education on when to recommend student loan discharges. While it is an additional process, it is possible to discharge student loans now.