I went to the Bankruptcy Courthouse & all filings, etc. are on computer. I was able to look up any bankruptcy by name or #. I read each piece of paper filed & if I needed a copy of such, for a small fee, was able to get a copy. There were at least 4 computers there for this reason & most times no one using them. No one would rush you & you can take the time you need to read the information, and even though the clerks could not give lgal advice, they were very helpful.
I could take these home & from a lot of this could file my motions to be heard, or continuanes based on what had happened, or in the least, get online to sites such as this to ask my multiple of questions. At most hearings after the 341 meeting, the debtor I was dealing with (Ex) didn't show up in court, but his attorney did.
Copies of the schedules filed helped me to sit and comb over each detail & make notes as to what was left out/ falsely filed. Then I typed up information dealing with each left out/ falsely filed section, made copies & like I said, gave a copy to both the trustee & Ex's attorney. It wasn't enough, in my case, to just talk to the trustee about his misfilings, (I did not want to sound like a disgruntaled ex-wife), but by making notes, listing questions (like why is he showing x-amount of $ for auto insurance/maintaince if he is not showing any vehicles to claim?, is it because he failed to list the yr/make/model/color of truck, van/car & if possible include proof of such vehicle such as a picture, etc. of such.
For instance, under the section of property where guns are to be listed, my Ex listed none. I had description of 9 along with serial # & values. (this may not sound like much alone, but these 9 guns had values totaling over $15,000.00 that he failed to list) Granted he could argue hat he no longer had these, but then he would have had to list what he had done with these & what value he had received for them, which he had not. In either case, because I followed up with this in writing, it was/IS much harder to be ignored or forgotten & makes it much easier for the trustee to follow up & for his attorney NOT to ignore or comb over, esp. when both KNOW you are on top of this & going to possibly show up. In my case, I had to prove or back up my claim that I was not an unsecured claim but a SECURED CLAIM & I wasn't going to go away w/o being heard. If I couldn't, I would at least raise enough doubt to his filings that possibly could get his bankruptcy thrown out & then free me up to pursue other avenues to collect my lien. I also was trying to show that he had so much more that he failed to list that could at least be taken & sold to satisfy the creditors.
I searched the Web until I found a site that actually listed some of the rulings that the local bankruptcy judges had made. This alone helped me as I could see where others had proved their like claims & it listed section/rule of bankruptcy codes. I then searched until I found a site that listed the bankruptcy code in full, looked up the section/rule & made notes as to why this would/could apply to me. When I talked to the trustee, I often found that even though she stressed she could/would not give me advise, and did not represent me or my interests but the trust, IF I listened, she would say something I knew was important or gave me a lead. This was all very new to me & I guess she often thought I knew much more than I actually did. I would then stop her & ask her to repeat what she had just said. I wrote down so many notes from just conversations with her and clerks and anyone who would carry on a conversation dealing with my issues or like issues.
Yes, I agree that everyone needs an attorney, it is so much easier to let someone who knows the law & how to use it to do this for me, but I just did not have the funds, but that did not mean it wasn't worth it to me to at least try & state my case.
I stronly suggest you follow up every thing in writing. Once written, it just doesn't go away.