Petition

• If you are married at the time you file your petition for bankruptcy, then you can choose to file either separately or jointly with your spouse. Keep in mind that it is generally much easier to remove one spouse at a later date than it is to add a spouse at a later date, so if you haven't filed yet, then you may want to file jointly because it gives you more flexibility.
  
  

Amended Petition

• If you have already filed your bankruptcy petition but very little time has passed and no actions have been taken in your case, then you may be able to add your spouse. For example, if no creditors have responded to your petition and the court has not held the initial creditors meeting, then the court will likely allow you to add your spouse. The primary reason courts generally won't allow you to add your spouse at a later date is because doing so can disadvantage your creditors.
  
  

Separate Petition

• If you are too late in the game to add your spouse, then you may be able to achieve a similar result by having your spouse file her own petition for bankruptcy, and then asking the court to administer both cases under a joint proceeding. A court has authority to order two cases administered together, and doing that will produce very similar results to a joint filing.
  
  

Effects

• If you are early enough in the game to be able to add your spouse then you need to consider the effects of joint vs. separate filings. When one spouse files bankruptcy separately, the other spouse's separate property is not exposed to liquidation by the trustee. But the other spouse's separate debts are also not discharged. Filing separately might make sense if one spouse separately owns most of the household property and the other spouse owes most of the household debts.