The Six-Month Lookback: Which Months Count in the Florida Means Test

People assume the means test measures their income. It measures a specific slice of their past income, and the slice moves with the filing date. For a Florida consumer whose earnings have changed in the last year, the difference between filing on November 30 and filing on December 1 can be the difference between a Chapter 7 and a five-year Chapter 13. The rule is mechanical, it is written into the Code, and it rewards people who understand it before they pick a date.

The definition

The means test on Official Form 122A-1 starts with "current monthly income," a term defined in 11 U.S.C. § 101(10A). Current monthly income is the average monthly income from all sources that the debtor receives, without regard to whether it is taxable, during the six-month period ending on the last day of the calendar month immediately preceding the date of the filing of the petition.

Three features of that sentence do the work.

Six full calendar months. The window is measured in calendar months, not in days. A petition filed on any day in December uses June 1 through November 30. A petition filed on any day in January uses July 1 through December 31. The month of filing never counts.

Income received. The test looks at when money was received, not when it was earned. A paycheck for work done in late November that arrives on December 3 is December income. A bonus declared in December and paid in January is January income.

All sources. Wages, self-employment income, rental income, unemployment compensation, pension payments, child support received, and regular contributions from a parent or partner toward household expenses all count. The statute expressly includes any amount paid by any entity other than the debtor on a regular basis for the household expenses of the debtor or the debtor's dependents.

What is excluded

Section 101(10A)(B)(ii) removes four categories from the calculation: benefits received under the Social Security Act, payments to victims of war crimes or crimes against humanity, payments to victims of international or domestic terrorism, and, since the HAVEN Act of 2019, compensation paid under titles 10, 37, or 38 of the United States Code in connection with a disability, a combat-related injury or disability, or the death of a member of the uniformed services.

The Social Security exclusion is the one that matters most in Florida. Retirement benefits, disability benefits, and SSI are all left out of current monthly income. A retiree whose only income is Social Security has a current monthly income of zero for means-test purposes, whatever the benefit amount.

Why the window matters: income that fell

The most common timing question is a drop in income. Someone who earned $8,000 a month through June and $3,500 a month since July has an annualized current monthly income that depends entirely on how many of the high months are still inside the window.

The Florida median for a one-person household, for cases filed on or after July 15, 2026, is $69,876, or $5,823 a month. A filing in October uses April through September: three months at $8,000 and three at $3,500, averaging $5,750, just under the median. A filing in September uses March through August, four high months and two low, averaging $6,500, above the median and into the second half of the form. A filing in January uses July through December, six low months, averaging $3,500, comfortably below.

Above the median does not mean ineligible. It means the long form, the IRS expense standards, and the presumption of abuse analysis in § 707(b)(2). For many filers the long form still comes out in their favor. But below the median ends the inquiry on the first page, and a filer who can get there by waiting a month usually should.

Why the window matters: income that rose

The reverse case is a filer who has just started a better job. Six months of the old, lower income is inside the window; the new salary has barely begun. Filing promptly, before the higher months accumulate, keeps current monthly income low.

There is a limit on that strategy. Current monthly income governs the means test, but the Chapter 7 trustee and the United States Trustee can also look at actual current circumstances under the totality-of-the-circumstances test in § 707(b)(3). A filer with a $4,000 current monthly income and a $9,000 new salary may pass Form 122A-1 and still face a motion to dismiss for abuse. Schedule I, which reports current income as of the filing date, will show the new salary. The lookback is a rule, not a loophole, and a case built entirely on the gap between the two numbers invites scrutiny.

Why the window matters: the one-time spike

A bonus, a severance payment, a large commission, or a 401(k) withdrawal received inside the window inflates the average. A $12,000 severance received in August adds $2,000 a month to current monthly income for every petition filed from September through February. A petition filed in March drops it. A December bonus is the same problem on a calendar everyone can predict, and it has its own post later this week.

The married filer

A joint petition uses both spouses' income. A married person filing alone still reports the non-filing spouse's income on the form, but then deducts the portion not regularly contributed to the household, the marital adjustment. The six-month window applies to the spouse's income too, so a spouse's bonus or job change moves the number the same way.

Choosing the month

The decision has three inputs. First, the arithmetic above, which the attorney runs for the two or three candidate months. Second, the other clocks running in the case: the 90-day and 70-day windows for recent charges, the 90-day preference period, the 180-day credit counseling certificate, and any foreclosure sale, garnishment, or lawsuit that cannot wait. Third, what the current income actually is, because a case that passes the test on paper and fails it in substance is not worth filing.

When the inputs conflict, the filer who is under a wage garnishment that takes $900 a month may be better off filing above the median in a Chapter 13 than waiting three months for a Chapter 7. When they do not conflict, waiting out a high month is one of the few things in bankruptcy that costs nothing.

Frequently asked questions

I get paid every two weeks. Does that change which checks count? No. The window is calendar months. Two months in the window will have three paychecks, and the form asks for the total received in each month.

Does a tax refund count as income in the month received? Most courts treat a refund as a return of over-withheld wages rather than new income, and the official form instructions do not list it as income. It is, however, an asset on Schedule A/B if it is unreceived or unspent on the filing date.

My employer paid me late. Which month does that go in? The month the money was received. Keep the pay stub showing the pay date.

Can I just leave out a month I do not like? No. The six months are fixed by the filing date. The only choice is the filing date.

Before you pick a month, the free Florida means test calculator takes about three minutes and shows whether Chapter 7 is realistic before you pay for a consultation.