Related Cases.

(a) Defined. Related cases are cases where assignment to a single Judge would promote efficient administration of the estates or avoid conflicting or inconsistent rulings. Related cases may include: spouses; a partnership and one or more of its general partners; two or more general partners; two or more debtors having an interest in the same asset; or a debtor and an affiliate. (b) Notice of Related Cases.

In the event there are related bankruptcy cases, the debtor shall file a Notice of Related Case(s) at the time of filing of a petition for relief, and shall serve a copy of the notice upon the United States Trustee, other than when filed by ECF. The notice shall list the name, filing date, and case number of any related cases. (c) Transfer. The Court may, on its own motion or upon the motion of a party in interest, order a case transferred to another Bankruptcy Judge based on the Court’s determination as to whether a case is related and whether the transfer will promote the efficient administration of the estates or avoid inconsistent or conflicting rulings.

(d) Procedure. A motion by a party in interest to transfer a case or cases shall be addressed to the Judge presiding in the earliest filed case and served on the debtors and all trustees appointed in the cases. BKR 14 (Effective May 4, 2026) 1017-1. Conversion from Chapter 7 to 13.

(a) Unless moving for conversion to chapter 13 in response to a motion to dismiss filed by the U.S. Trustee under 11 U.S.C. § 707(b), a debtor who wishes to convert to chapter 13 a pending chapter 7 case that has not previously been converted shall serve a motion to convert on the chapter 7 trustee, the U.S. Trustee, and all parties in interest. (b) When serving a motion to convert to chapter 13, the debtor should utilize the “Notice and Opportunity For Hearing” procedures of B.L.R. 9014-1(b)(3). For purposes of motions made under this rule, the 21 day notice provision of B.L.R. 9014-1(b)(3)(A) (time to object and request a hearing) shall be 14 days. If an objection is filed or served, the time for the initiating party to give notice of a hearing shall be 7 days; the notice of hearing should be served on the objecting party, the chapter 7 trustee and the U.S. Trustee.

If no party in interest has filed an objection within 14 days following service of the motion to convert, the debtor may file a declaration of no response and upload or lodge an order granting the motion. (c) The court will not take testimony at the hearing, and may at that time rule on the objection if there is no genuine issue of material fact. (d) The above-mentioned time periods are subject to modification in accordance with the applicable rules. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude requests for relief of any nature by or against any party in interest during the period between the filing of a motion to convert and the court’s disposition thereof.