P-account carry-over: what you take into next month
Enter your allowance, the monthly credit and your spending: the tool follows four months and shows how much stays protected, how much carries over and what a creditor would get.
Carried over after month 2
€780
Everything stays protected over the four months.
| Month 1: protected available | €1,590 |
| Month 2: protected available | €2,080 |
| Month 3: protected available | €2,370 |
| Month 4: protected available | €2,370 |
Simplified model of section 899(2) ZPO: unused allowance stays protected for the three following months, spending is set against the oldest balance first. The waiting period under section 900 ZPO is not modelled.
| Month | Balance | Spent | Carried | Attachable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,590 | €1,100 | €490 | €0 |
| 2 | €2,080 | €1,300 | €780 | €0 |
| 3 | €2,370 | €1,590 | €780 | €0 |
| 4 | €2,370 | €2,000 | €370 | €0 |
Prepared by Radif Partners · How we calculate · 2026 table (Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 80) and ZPO checked on 28 October 2026
Whatever part of the protected amount on your German P-account you do not spend in one month stays protected on top for the next 3 calendar months (section 899(2) ZPO, the Übertrag). Each payment out is set against the balance credited first, meaning the oldest leftover. An example with the €1,590 base amount and a credit of the same size each month: spend €1,200 in month one and €390 moves into month two. After a frugal second month there is a cushion of €580, and in month four you can spend €1,900 without the creditor getting anything. If instead more comes in every month than the allowance, say €1,800, the excess of €210 is attachable each month. The rule also covers top-ups under section 902 ZPO. The calculator is a simplified model: it does not reproduce the waiting period in section 900 ZPO and does not replace your bank’s own statement.
How the carry-over works
The allowance on a P-account always runs to the end of the calendar month. If you do not use all of it, the rest does not vanish at once: section 899(2) ZPO protects the unused balance in the three following months in addition to the new allowance. Spending is set against whatever came in first. Think of it as a simple queue: the oldest leftover is spent first, the newest stays longest.
The table shows this with the model on this page. €1,590 comes in every month, exactly the base amount, and spending varies. In month four a larger bill arrives, which can be paid only because something was left over in earlier months.
| Month | Balance | Spent | Carried | Attachable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,590 | €1,200 | €390 | €0 |
| 2 | €1,980 | €1,400 | €580 | €0 |
| 3 | €2,170 | €1,590 | €580 | €0 |
| 4 | €2,170 | €1,900 | €270 | €0 |
| 5 | €1,860 | €1,590 | €270 | €0 |
Things look different when more comes in regularly than is protected. With €1,800 a month and €1,000 spent, a growing carry-over builds up, but the part above the allowance, here €210, is attachable every month. The carry-over helps with uneven spending, not with permanently higher income. For the latter, the question is whether you are entitled to a higher allowance; P-account allowance 2026 checks that.
The carry-over is not limited to the base amount. Section 902 sentence 2 ZPO applies the rule to the top-ups as well, such as child benefit or dependants. If a certificate gives you a higher allowance, simply use that figure in the calculator instead of the base amount.
Protected on the P-account per month
Protected on the P-account per month
€2,187.42
| Base amount (s. 899(1)) | €1,590 |
| Dependants (s. 902 no. 1) | €597.42 |
| Child benefit (s. 902 no. 5) | €0 |
| Other benefits | €0 |
The waiting period for future balances
An account garnishment usually covers not only today’s balance but future ones too. For that case section 900(1) ZPO says the bank may pay out of a credit only after the calendar month following the credit has ended. Money that arrives at the end of a month to fund the next one is therefore not skimmed off straight away. In the following month it counts as that month’s balance and is covered by that month’s allowance. The three-month period from section 899(2) is not extended. On the creditor’s application the court may decide otherwise if the wait would cause the creditor unreasonable hardship.
The model does not reproduce this waiting period. It assumes every credit counts in the month it arrives and shows as “attachable” whatever exceeds the protection. In practice the bank may therefore pay that part out later than the table suggests. The one-month freeze after the transfer order is served, under section 835(3) ZPO, comes on top; more on account garnishment.
Challenge bank errors in time
The bank works out the carry-over itself. If the amount of a protected sum is wrong, for example because a certificate was overlooked, you must tell the bank by the end of the sixth calendar month after the calculation concerned (section 899(3) ZPO). For a calculation in November 2026 the deadline ends on 31 May 2027. After that the law only allows objections whose lateness is not your fault. Checking your statements against the calculator lets you spot large gaps early. Benefits paid late follow special rules, explained under back-payments on a P-account.