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STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR DEBTOR PARTICIPATION IN MEETING OF CREDITORS
1.    The Debtor is required to appear at the meeting of creditors. a.    Bankruptcy code requires that the "debtor shall appear and submit to examination under oath at the meeting of creditors under section 341(a) of this title."  11 U.S.C. Section 343; Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 2003(b)(1) and 4002(1). b.    Failure of the debtor to appear at the meeting of creditors is a ground for dismissal. United States Trustee Standing Motion to Dismiss, Misc. Case No. 96-00390-DMD. c.    Debtor is required to personally appear. Another person holding a power of attorney from the debtor cannot testify on the debtor's behalf. In re O'Donnell, 43 B.R. 679 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 1984). d.    Court approval is required to waive the debtor's appearance at the meeting of creditors scheduled under section 341. AK LBR 2003-1(d). i.    Waivers have been denied for occupational reasons. In re Rust, 1 B.R. 656 (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. 1979); ii.    Active military service may be a sufficient cause to excuse attendance. In re Edwards, 2 B.R. 103 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 1979); iii.    Serious illness, involuntary confinement or other reasons beyond the debtor's control excused debtor's physical presence. In re Vilt, 56 B.R. 723 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. E.D. 1986); iv.    A waiver will be required to excuse a spouse from appearing even though the appearing spouse has the most knowledge of their financial affairs; and v.    If a telephonic appearance can be obtained and authorized, it is preferable to a waiver of appearance or answers by interrogatories. 2.    Appearance by telephone by the debtor(s) may be authorized after request to United States Trustee and after notice to parties in interest. a.    Meetings of creditors are scheduled within 20 to 40 days of the date the petition is filed (20 to 35 or 20 to 50 in chapters 12 and 13 respectively) or not later than 60 days in Fairbanks, Nome, Juneau and Ketchikan. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 2003. b.    Debtor's counsel is encouraged to discuss with the debtor at their initial meeting the circumstances that will be considered when a determination is made whether to allow the telephonic appearance by the debtor. Advance planning is imperative to avoid dismissal for failure to appear. Planning for the debtor's appearance should include the following: i.    Whether the debtor will leave the state (either permanently or temporarily) within 20 to 40 days of the date the petition is filed (60 days in Fairbanks, Nome, Juneau and Ketchikan). (1)    Will the debtor be able to appear at a United States Trustee's office in another location if required for purposes of verifying identification and taking the oath? (2)    What alternatives are available in order to assure the debtor can physically appear? Include consideration of postponing date to object to discharge or to file dischargeability actions until debtor can attend. ii.    Will the debtor be unavailable by telephone because of incarceration, on a ship at sea, in a foreign country or because of physical incapacity by the time of the meeting of creditors? How long will the circumstance continue? iii.    What is the actual cost to the debtor of attending in person, i.e., airfare (including advance/saver fares, military hop or use of frequent flier awards), other transportation (ferry, bus), and accommodations, etc. iv.    How will the debtor pay for the call? Collect, calling card, reverse charges, operator assisted conference call or other method. The trustee or the United States Trustee will not pay for the call. v.    Will statements and schedules be completed and filed so that the request for telephonic appearance can be meaningfully reviewed? vi.    Will the debtor be able to refer to a copy of the schedules and statements and other documentation during the telephonic meeting? vii.    Are there creditors that will want to question the debtor in person? viii.    Will documentation be available to the trustee, the non-appearing debtor and to debtor's counsel? Documentation is often required by trustee, i.e., recorded documents, valuations, purchase documents, tax returns, etc., that will be needed in order to effectively conduct the questioning of the debtor by the trustee or creditors. ix.    Are there assets that the trustee may want to look at, i.e., jewelry, art work, collections, heirlooms, guns, motorcycles, etc? (1)    Are the items going to be moved out of state? To where? Are they necessary for the debtor's household use? Can the items be stored until the trustee can examine them? Does the debtor have pictures, appraisals or other documentation? (2)    When will the items be in transit and how are they being transported? x.    The debtors will be required to stand by for the meeting if necessary to accommodate previously scheduled debtors' meetings. Will the debtor be able to be contacted by telephone within a range of several hours? xi.    Cost to attend may require use of permanent fund dividend, exempt assets, vacation time, post-petition income, etc. xii.    What is the urgency? Can establishing venue in a new district by waiting the appropriate time save the debtor money in legal fees (i.e., defend for non-appearance including court hearings, but consider that attorney's fee for bankruptcy in some states may actually be lower) and the potential cost of returning to Alaska to attend the meeting. c.    In order to obtain the United States Trustee's authorization to conduct an examination of the debtor by telephone, the debtor or debtors' counsel submits the required documents for telephonic request to the United States Trustee as soon as possible after the filing of the bankruptcy petition. i.    Pick the date: The date, time and place and trustee assignment is available in about two to three days for Anchorage filings (5 to 7 days for Fairbanks or Southeast) from the date of the filing of the petition by calling VCIS (Voice Case Information System for U.S. Bankruptcy Court) at (907) 271-2658. To select a date at which the debtor commits to being available for examination by the trustee and creditors by telephone, consult with the United States Trustee on the available dates and times for the trustee's scheduled meetings or call the Voice Case Information System and follow the touch-tone telephone prompts, e.g., case number, debtor's name, social security number or tax identification number to obtain the previously scheduled "first" or continued (called "first" meeting on VCIS) date set for the meeting of creditors. ii.    The request must state the date of the regularly scheduled meeting at which the debtor intends to appear telephonically. The request must state with specificity the reasons the debtor cannot attend the meeting in person and must discuss reasonable alternatives that have been explored and why those alternatives are not available. The request must state whether the trustee has been consulted, whether the schedules and statements have been filed, and other pertinent considerations to the request that are described in 2.b. above. Any documents relevant to the stated cause other than the supporting affidavit must be described and attached. Suggested form for request is available from the Office of the United States Trustee. iii.    The request must be supported by an affidavit of the debtor. In a chapter 7 or 13 case, each individual debtor must submit a notarized affidavit. The affidavit must be signed by the debtor; powers of attorney or declarations will not be accepted. The affidavit of each debtor must contain the following information: (1)    The specific reason for the request, including the reasonably predicable costs as well as uneconomical alternatives if the request is based on distance and costs from location of scheduled meeting. Discuss the impact on postpetition resources as shown on Schedules I and J and exemptions on Schedule C. (2)    Other facts or documents relied on to form the basis for the request must be included. (3)    Photo identification number, such as passport, military identification, or State identification. (4)    Social Security Number Verification:  An original Social Security Card  must be presented to the Notary Public (See Below). (5)    The affidavit must be notarized by a notary public, postmaster, post commander, etc. and verify the number with the Social Security Number on the Petition.  The notary must personally verify the identity of the debtor(s) by checking his/her photo identification.  Also the notary must personally look at the debtor(s) Social Security card.  iv.    For a corporate or partnership debtors, an affidavit of the individual most knowledgeable to testify about the debtor's finances at the meeting of creditors is required. The affidavit must include pertinent information applicable to the case and the individual's capacity with the debtor, their location, telephone number or other method of contact, the location of the books and records, location of assets if moved from location stated in statements and schedules. Requests for telephonic participation will only be granted in rare circumstances. v.    In a corporate or partnership chapter 11, a request for telephonic participation at the first meeting of creditors by a representative of the debtor will not be granted absent an affidavit of an individual most knowledgeable about the debtor's finances stating the reason for the request and their assurance that they will be present at the next continued meeting of creditors. (1)    The notice of the request for telephonic participation  must be mailed to the current official mailing matrix, which is maintained and is available from the Clerk's office for a fee. Fifteen (15) days notice to creditors of the date to submit objections must be given. A certificate of mailing must be submitted to or postmarked and sent regular mail to the United States Trustee within five (5) days of mailing. A suggested form of notice is available from the Office of the United States Trustee. (2)    If the meeting of creditors is scheduled to occur prior to the last date to object, the notice must state that:  "The debtor's examination at the meeting of creditors may be conducted by the trustee and will be continued until the debtor personally appears, the trustee concludes the meeting or until any objections are resolved even if no creditors chose to appear at any of the 341 meetings.  Please call (907) 271-2658 and follow the prompts to determine the status of the 'first' meeting;" (3)    The original Notice, certificate of mailing, request, supporting affidavit and other documents (i.e., "required documents") are submitted to the Office of the United States Trustee, 605 West Fourth Avenue, Suite 258, Anchorage, Alaska 99501. (4)    An original certificate of no objection  must be submitted to our office promptly after the last date to object has expired. i.    If the trustee has not yet had an opportunity to examine the debtor, a conditional authorization may be granted and filed prior to the meeting conditioning the authorization on the trustee and United States Trustee's determination that a personal appearance is not required. ii.    The trustee may, but is not required to, make such a determination prior to conducting the examination of the debtor. 3.    Conduct of Telephonic Meeting of Creditors a.    The Notice, Certificate of Mailing, Request and Affidavit (i.e., "required documents") must be received by the Office of the United States Trustee by the date set for the first or next continued meeting of creditors before the trustee is obligated to examine the debtor appearing by telephone. i.    If a conditional authorization has been issued, the trustee's consent to conclude the meeting of creditors will remove the condition and the authorization will be deemed to be granted. No further authorization will be filed with the court. ii.    If the required documents have been submitted, but the time for objection has not run prior to the scheduled meeting, the trustee will continue the meeting to the next date, subject to receipt of the debtor's certificate of no objections.  If no objections are raised, the trustee may conduct the examination and may note on the proceeding memorandum of the meeting that the trustee does not intend to examine the debtor(s) further unless an objection to the request is received.  If the trustee so consents and no objections are received, the authorization will be granted retroactively and the trustee may conclude the examination. b.    The cost of the telephone call must be borne by the debtor. c.    The debtor must have pertinent documents available to refer to during the examination, including the statements and schedules, the "United States Trustee Statement of Information" (chapter 7 debtors are required to state whether they have read the statement), and documents relating to matters anticipated to be discussed. The debtor is responsible for insuring that copies of documents requested by the trustee have been received by the trustee at or before the time for the meeting. d.    The debtor must be available at the scheduled time and remain available at the telephone number agreed upon in writing or on the record until the examination can be concluded. If the debtor is unable to remain available until the conclusion of the examination (including examinations continued on the record), then the debtor will be deemed to have not appeared. e.    If the debtor does not appear at the scheduled meeting or the required documents have not been received, the United States Trustee may initiate the Standing Motion to Dismiss referred to above or take further legal action, including a motion to compel the debtor or debtors representative to appear. i.    At the trustee's discretion, the trustee may conduct the meeting, but will not conclude the meeting or make any agreements with the debtor regarding whether the United States Trustee may forego moving the court for an order dismissing the case for non-appearance. ii.    If the trustee does examine the debtor, the trustee will continue the meeting and may make a written recommendation to the United States Trustee on the proceeding memorandum regarding dismissal. 4.    If a timely objection is received and the objection cannot be informally resolved by the United States Trustee in consultation with the debtor, the trustee and the parties, the request will be denied. a.    The grounds for the denial will be set forth in writing and will be filed with the bankruptcy court along with all required documents and the written objection, if not previously filed, that were received by the United States Trustee. b.    A review of the United States Trustee denial of the debtor's request to be examined by telephone may be requested of the bankruptcy court. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 2020.
	ILENE J. LASHINSKY UNITED STATES TRUSTEE Antonia K. Hill Assistant United States Trustee