I’ve written in previous blog posts that a debtor does not have to be a Florida resident to claim tenants by entireties exemption of assets situated in Florida. The reason is that tenants by entireties protection is based upon common law traditions of property ownership rather than upon exemptions statutes enacted by the Florida and…
Tenancy by entireties property has be acquired property while both spouses are married. That does not mean that property first purchased by a single person cannot become entireties property after the person is married.
When a court finds that a client has improperly taken money from consumers or investors in violation of federal or state laws the court may order restitution to the “victims” . Restitution orders require the debtor to pay money to the government agency on behalf of the victims. Ordinary asset protection may not protect against…
One of my clients asked me to review his applications and titling of his financial accounts to make sure he properly registered his accounts as tenants by entireties. In Florida, a joint marital account with rights of survivorship is presumed to be held as tenants by entireties unless the debtor has shown his intent to…
Creditors who have a sizable claim against on spouse residing in Florida sometimes will assert creative theories to impose liability on the other spouse so in order to overcome tenants by entireties protection. When a judgment is against only one spouse the debtor spouse may protect all joint marital assets because marital assets are presumed…
Florida property owned by a husband and wife with rights of survivorship is presumed to be “tenants by entireties” property which is protected from the creditors of either spouse, but not protected from joint creditors. If a husband and wife contribute money to a revocable living trust, does the change of ownership terminate the entireties…
Much has been written about technical procedures for setting up a tenants by entireties account. One of the rules, expressed in several prior court decisions, is that any joint account owned by husband and wife is presumed to be an entireties accounts even if the account title does not state “tenants by entireties” provided however…
A blog reader sent me an email about his Bank of America joint checking account which he and his wife opened many years ago. He says the account was originally titled as “tenants by entireties. Just recently, he saw that BOA unilaterally changed the title on his account to “tenants in common.” Tenants in common…
It is not easy to open a tenants by entireties bank account. I’ve written previously that some banks refuse to offer entireties accounts; some banks offer them but you have to ask and be lucky the bank representative knows what you are talking about; also, banks frequently change their account application forms.
Some states other than Florida have tenants by entireties protection. The protection is not equal among states.
