In Re Buerman

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO ADD JOINT DEBTOR

RICHARD D. TAYLOR, Bankruptcy Judge.

Pending before the Court is the debtor’s motion to add a joint debtor filed on July 15, 2003, to amend his voluntary petition to include his wife as a joint debtor. The debtor seems to rely on Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1009(a), which provides for a general right to amend a voluntary petition as a matter of course at any time before the case is closed.

11 U.S.C § 302 provides for a joint petition with the debtor’s spouse. However, the language of § 302 states that a joint case is commenced by the filing of a…