Garnishing or levying a bank account is one of the most effective means for a judgment creditor to satisfy an outstanding judgment. However, to do this, the creditor must first find out where the debtor banks. A common misconception is that you can hide where you bank from a judgment…
In most cases, stocks and brokerage accounts can be garnished by a creditor with a money judgment. However, sometimes a brokerage account may be exempt from garnishment due to federal or state law. Brokerage Garnishment Procedure To garnish a judgment debtor’s stocks or brokerage account, a creditor first files a…
Florida residents that own real or personal property in other states often wonder whether Florida’s generous exemptions from creditors can be asserted in courts located outside of Florida. For example, suppose a judgment debtor has a judgment entered against him in New York. The debtor lives and works in Florida….
Florida is not a community property state. Instead, all property held by either spouse alone is considered to be separate property. This type of ownership makes Florida an equitable distribution state. This means that upon divorce, the marital assets are split according to what the judge finds to be fair…
A judgment lasts for 20 years in Florida. A creditor can only enforce a judgment during the 20 year period. Judgments can sometimes be renewed after 20 years, although this is difficult and rarely done. The length of a judgment is found in section 55.081 of the Florida Statutes. Judgments…
A civil judgment rendered in one state is enforceable in any other state under the concept of “full faith and credit.” The U.S. Constitution provides that each state must give full faith and credit to a civil order issued in another state’s court. For example, a money judgment issued in…
Most creditors understand that if they obtain a money judgment in a state other than Florida the creditor can transfer the judgment to Florida in order to pursue the debtor’s Florida assets. Creditors are often uniformed about how long they have to collect the foreign judgment in Florida. The question…
One of my clients had a judgment issued against him in 2009 in a Georgia civil case. The client retired and moved to Florida in 2016. Upon discovering my client changed residence to Florida move the creditor domesticated the Georgia judgment in Florida in 2016. Georgia law provides that Georgia…
Stopping a Bank Account Garnishment To stop a bank account garnishment, a judgment debtor should file a claim of exemption, gather all documentation in support of their exemption, and be prepared to prove entitlement to an exemption to the creditor’s attorney or to the judge. A creditor can serve a…
Experienced collection attorneys may collect a judgment against a small business by garnishing the debtor business’s credit card receipts. This is typically done by serving a writ of garnishment upon the company’s merchant account where credit card receipts are collected. Assume that a creditor is unable to serve a writ…
