A lot of married people carry debt that is theirs alone. Maybe the credit cards predate the marriage. Maybe a failed business or a medical event hit one spouse's name only. Whatever the reason, a common question in Florida is simple: can I file bankruptcy without dragging my husband or wife into it?

Yes, you can. One spouse can file alone. But marriage still touches the case in a few important ways, and understanding them up front prevents ugly surprises.

Your spouse does not have to file with you

Bankruptcy is personal. Each adult decides for themselves. When you file alone, only your debts are discharged, only your name appears on the case, and the bankruptcy shows up only on your credit report, not your spouse's.

That last point matters. A non-filing spouse's credit score is not directly dinged by your case. Their accounts, in their name only, keep reporting as usual.

But your spouse's income still counts

Here is the part that surprises people. Even when one spouse files alone, the means test looks at household income, not just the filer's income. The test takes the household's income for the six full months before filing and compares it to the Florida median for your household size. As of April 1, 2026, that median is $86,523 for a two-person household and $97,540 for three.

There is a built-in fairness valve called the marital adjustment. Money your spouse spends on things that are truly their own, not household expenses, can be subtracted. Common examples include:

  • Your spouse's separate car payment on a car only they use and only they owe on
  • Payments on your spouse's separate credit cards or student loans
  • Your spouse's payroll deductions, like their 401(k) loan repayment
  • Support your spouse pays for a child from another relationship

After those subtractions, what remains is the income the means test actually counts. For many one-spouse filings, the marital adjustment is what makes Chapter 7 possible.

What happens to joint debts

A discharge protects the person who filed. It does not erase the other signer's liability. So if you and your spouse both signed for a credit card or a car loan, your filing wipes out your liability, but creditors can still collect the full balance from your spouse.

This is the single biggest reason some couples choose to file together. If most of the debt is joint, one spouse filing alone may just shift the collection pressure rather than end it. If most of the debt belongs to one spouse, filing alone often makes sense.

In Chapter 13 there is extra help: the codebtor stay generally stops creditors from pursuing a cosigner on consumer debts while the plan is in place. That protection comes up often with family-cosigned loans, which we cover in Parent PLUS and cosigned student loans.

The Florida entireties advantage

Florida recognizes a special form of joint ownership for married couples called tenancy by the entireties. Property owned this way belongs to the marriage itself, not to either spouse individually.

Why does that matter? In a one-spouse bankruptcy, entireties property is generally protected from creditors who hold claims against only the filing spouse. If a bank account, a car, or other property is genuinely owned as entireties property, and there are no joint creditors with claims against both spouses, that property can often be kept safe in the case.

This is a powerful but technical protection. Whether property truly qualifies as entireties property, and whether joint debts spoil the protection, depends on facts and documents. It deserves a careful look before filing, not after.

When filing alone makes sense, and when it does not

Filing alone tends to fit when the debt is mostly in one spouse's name, the couple wants to preserve one spouse's clean credit, or one spouse has separate property concerns. Filing jointly tends to fit when debts are mostly joint, since one case is cheaper than two and protects both signers.

If your marriage is ending, the order of operations between divorce court and bankruptcy court changes the math entirely. We walk through that in divorce and bankruptcy timing.

And if you are worried about how often the law lets a person file, the waiting periods between cases apply per person, not per couple. See how often can you file bankruptcy.

Before deciding, build two simple lists side by side: debts in your name only, and debts with both names on them. Then note how each major asset is titled, especially bank accounts and vehicles. Those two pieces of paper answer most of the filing-alone question before anyone opens a statute.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Married finances are rarely simple, and the right answer depends on your documents and your goals.

See your options

Curious whether filing alone would work for your household? Take the free 3-minute options check or call Recalde Fresh Start at (305) 792-9100.