Amended/Corrected Petitions

Official Procedure Last Change May 31, 2017

Amended/Corrected Petitions

How to file:

Location of event: Bankruptcy > Schedules/Statement of Financial Affairs/Initial Required Documents > Amended/Corrected Petition

Things to be aware of when filing: An amended petition should not be used to correct information that changed after the date of filing of the petition.

General Information

An amended or corrected petition should only be filed if any information on the original petition was missing or incorrect at the time of filing. If any information changes after the filing date, there are specific procedures to transmit this information to the court:

Correcting a debtor's name

If the Debtor’s name is incorrect at the time of filing and the notice of the creditors’ meeting has not been issued, the Debtor must alert the Clerk by telephone to determine the necessary steps to correct the error prior to issuance of the meeting notice. If the notice of the creditors’ meeting was issued with an incorrect Debtor name, the Debtor must contact the Court and complete steps (1) through (3) below, as applicable.

(1) If the Debtor’s name on the petition is incorrect, the Debtor must submit an amended petition.

(2) If the Debtor’s name used for any electronic signature is incorrect, the Debtor must file a declaration under penalty of perjury affirming that the documents filed with the incorrect electronic signature were signed in the original by the debtor using the correct name, and that the documents are true and correct to the best of the debtor’s knowledge, information, and belief.  Sample declaration  This Declaration can be filed in the same document as the Amended Petition, or separately using the Declaration menu option.

(3) The Debtor must serve notice of a Notice of Corrected Debtor's Name on all creditors, trustee, and the UST. A Certificate of Service must be filed along with the Amended Petition. The Certificate of Service can be filed in the same document as the Amended Petition, or separately using the Certificate of Service menu option.

Correcting a social security number

See separate procedure on Corrected Statement of Social Security Number.

If the last four digits of the SSN shown on the Voluntary Petition are incorrect, an amended petition showing the correct last four digits must be filed in addition to the Corrected Statement of SSN, using the instructions below.

Name change due to marriage

Do not file an Amended Petition to add a married name, unless the debtor already had that name at the time of filing their bankruptcy petition and it was omitted from the Petition in error.

Instead, file a Notice of Name Change to alert the Court to the new name. There is no official form available for that purpose. The document should be filed using the Notice of Submission event.

Filing requirements 

  • Official Form 101 for individual debtors or 201 for non-individual debtors must be used.
  • Part 7 of Form 101, or Question 17 of Form 201, must be included and signed by the debtor(s).

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Log into CM/ECF.

2. Select Bankruptcy > Schedules/Statement of Financial Affairs/Initial Required Documents.

3. Enter case number (in the format xx-xxxxx) and click Next.

4. Select Amended/Corrected Petition from the event list and click Next.

5. Check box if jointly filing with another attorney, click Next. If jointly filing, select additional attorneys, click Next.

6. Click to highlight the debtor(s) for whom the Certificate is being filed and click Next. You must select both debtors if you are intending to include the certificates for both debtors in this filing. To select both debtors, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on each debtor name.

Note: The "Attorney/Party Association” screen may appear. If your party selection was correct, check the box to create an association and click Next.

7. Browse to select the document to be filed (pdf file). Click Next.

8. Check the box next to the Petition that you are amending and click Next. (If there is only one petition on the docket, this step is skipped.)

9. Select the appropriate radio button and click Next.

10. Select all documents that you are filing (corrected petitions), or the reason for the amendment (amended petitions) and click Next.

11. If you indicated that you are amending the debtor's name, choose appropriate radio button re: Certificate of Service and click Next. Choose appropriate radio button re: Declaration then click Next.

12. If you indicated that you are amending the debtor's SSN, a warning message is displayed. Click Next.

13. Final docket text is displayed. Click Next.

14. Verify the final docket text; if correct, click Next to submit your document(s).

Note: The Notice of Electronic Filing displays giving you the document number. Copies of this notice are immediately e-mailed to all participants who receive electronic notification in the case.