LAVELLE CURTIS SCOTT, JR.

Dated: October 3, 2019 Det 2 □□ 3 Daniel P. Collins, Bankruptcy Judge 4 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT 5 DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 6 || Inre: ) Chapter 7 Proceedings 7 LAVELLE CURTIS SCOTT JR., Case No.: 2:19-bk-11722-DPC 8 ) Debtor. ) 9 ) ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 10 ) AMEND PETITION ) 11 ) 12 $$ 13 Debtor Lavelle Curtis Scott, Jr. (‘Debtor’) has filed a motion (‘Motion’) to amend his 14 || Chapter 7 petition to add his spouse, Diana Charae Scott (“Ms. Scott”) (DE 20), as a joint debtor. 15 || The amended petition is attached to the Motion. Debtor commenced this case by filing a 16 || Chapter 7 petition on September 13, 2019, as sole petitioner. That petition was captioned with 17 || the name Lavelle Curtis Scott Jr. only and was only signed by him. Debtor now seeks to amend 18 || his petition to a joint petition and add his spouse as a co-debtor. 19 There is no authority to retroactively convert the original single filing to a joint filing. The 20 || non-filing spouse may not be added to this case by amendment or motion, largely due to the 21 || importance of the petition date, order for relief and creation of the bankruptcy estate. A debtor 22 || cannot have a separate petition date from his or her spouse because there can only be one petition 23 || date per one petition. In re Clinton, 166 B.R. 195, 200 (Bankr. N.D.Ga. 1994). 24 The non-filing spouse must file a separate bankruptcy petition; a joint bankruptcy case 25 || must be commenced by both spouses signing a single petition at the beginning of the case. In re 26 || Chilson, 525 B.R. 130 (Bankr. D. N.M. 2015); In re Austin, 46 B.R. 358 (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 1985); 27 || In re Woodell, 96 B.R. 614 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1988); In re Kirkus, 97 B.R. 675 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 28 || 1987); and In re Sobin, 99 B.R. 483 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1989). 1 IT IS ORDERED that debtor’s motion to add his spouse as a joint debtor is denied. 2 DATED AND SIGNED — 3 — — 4 — — 5 — 6 To be Noticed through the BNC to: — 7 — Lavelle Curtis Scott, Jr. — 8 — 95 N. Cooper Rd., #71 9 Chandler, AZ 85225 10 David A. Birdsell 216 N. Center — 11 — Mesa, AZ 85201 — 12 — — 13 — — 14 — — 15 — — 16 — — 17 — — 18 — — 19 — — 20 — — 21 — — 22 — — 23 — — 24 — — 25 — — 26 — — 27 — — 28 —