In Re Shirley Mae TOMLIN, Debtor. COLONIAL AUTO CENTER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Shirley Mae TOMLIN, Defendant-Appellant

Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Judge MOTZ wrote the opinion, in which Judge ERVIN and Judge WILKINS joined.

OPINION

DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge:

In this ease a creditor asserts that an order dismissing “with prejudice” a bankrupt debtor’s Chapter 7 petition precluded the debtor from subsequently seeking to discharge debts existing at the time of that order. Although a bankruptcy court certainly has the power to bar a debtor from further litigating the dischargeability of pending debts, the order at issue here is ambiguous. For this reason, we defer to the bankruptcy court’s…