A debtor can transfer assets to a non-debtor at any time including after a creditor has filed a lawsuit and even after the court has awarded a money judgment against the debtor. Such late asset transfers can be challenged as fraudulent conveyances. The creditor remedies for a debtor’s fraudulent conveyance…
Judgment debtors often discover that a creditor’s judgment includes substantial amounts of money accrued or incurred after the court issued the judgment. These post-judgment charges can include attorneys fees awarded to the creditor’s attorney. Florida law authorizes a court to award attorneys fees where either a Florida statute provides for…
Existing Laws on Florida Homestead Protection and Fraudulent Conveyance It is well-settled Florida law that the purchase or improvement of a Florida homestead cannot be set aside as a fraudulent conveyance. The Florida Supreme Court in Havoco v. Hill said that a creditor cannot reverse a judgment debtor’s payments made…
Collection of money judgments is conducted through proceedings supplementary under Florida Statute 56.29. The proceedings supplementary statutes include procedures to remedy the debtor’s fraudulent transfers of personal property. (56.29 (3). Fraudulent transfers are also addressed under a separate statute, Section 726.105. Section 726.110 imposes a four year statute of limitations…
I’ve warned many clients against making fraudulent transfers of money to their non-debtor spouse or to tenants by entireties with their spouse. A creditor may get a general money judgment against the non-debtor spouse for the value of assets transferred. The transfer to the spouse risks making the spouse a…
A client asked me if transferring money to an offshore bank account after a creditor filed a collection lawsuit is a fraudulent transfer. Not all actions to protect assets from known creditors fall withing the scope of the fraudulent transfer statues. To the point, moving the location of an asset…
Florida law limits creditor remedies for fraudulent transfers. A court may reverse a transfer but it may not impose additional damages against a debtor simply because the debtor transferred property to avoid the judgment. The law does not prohibit damages against a transferee who is not the debtor. The recipient…
Florida residents who conduct business in other states may find themselves subject to the courts and the laws of the foreign state. Specifically, a court in another state that issues a money judgment against a Florida resident who did business in that state can enforce fraudulent transfer laws and remedies…
Often, a debtor will own an interest in real estate or business corporation/LLC that has no present value, but which the debtor anticipates will some day be worth significant money. Examples are upside down real estate or a start up business. These assets may be transferred to protect the anticipated…
An attorney called for help collecting a debt. The debtor had owned a piece of commercial property in a revocable living trust that had been established as part of an estate plan. The trust provided that the property would pass to the debtor’s children after her death. This attorney on…
