I have been asked many times over the years about the statute of limitations applicable to mortgages and credit card debt. The statute of limitations is a legal term that determines how loan may a bank due a debtor for missing a mortgage payment of defaulting on payments under a credit card agreement. The most…
Clients sometimes ask me whether a judgment creditor can take personal property in their home such as furniture and jewelry. The answer is that a creditor can obtain what is known as a “break order” to authorize the sheriff to remove your personal property. The Florida homestead exemption does not extend to protect tangible personal…
Many years ago one of my clients transferred a substantial amount of money to an irrevocable charitable lead trust. Under the terms of the trust agreement the client receives a stream of income each year, and upon the client’s death all money in the charitable trust goes to a charity. The client wanted to know…
Some asset protection clients eventually file bankruptcy. A bankruptcy trustee’s job is to find and possible reverse the debtor’s prior asset transfers done in the course of asset protection planning. Some trustees have sought discovery of the debtor’s communication with the debtor’s attorneys who had advised and assisted the debtor with asset protection planning in…
One of my client’s recently escaped garnishment of his bank account by New York creditor because of a common law principal in New York known as the “separate entity rule.” The client lived in Virginia and banked at the Virginia branch of a regional banking institution. The bank also had branches in New York City….
A client has a new tech company with what he describes as a valuable copyright. His ex-partner sued him in Virginia federal court and obtained a large judgment which the ex-partner domesticated in Florida. The creditor registered a judgment lien with the Secretary of State. The client is concerned that the lien attaches to the…
Many people believe they can indefinitely delay a lawsuit against them by avoiding the process server who is trying to serve the complaint. They plan to live somewhere other than their primary residence, often in locations outside of Florida. Can you avoid a lawsuit by making it impossible for a process server to find you…
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 of garnishment on the debtor’s…
A former client had a judgment entered against him in a New York. The debtor/client lived and worked in Florida. He supported his wife. His employer had offices in Florida and New York, and it paid the client from the Florida office where the client was employed. The creditor caused the New York court to…
Assuming a Florida debtor owns personal personal property (example, cash, stocks, LLC interests) in a jurisdiction outside of Florida, can a Florida judge compel a judgment debtor to bring the assets in to Florida to pay a Florida judgment creditor, and can the judge hold the debtor in contempt of court if the debtor does…
