If a business is facing financial difficulty, the business owner is usually concerned about what will happen to the business assets and their personal assets if the business can’t pay its lenders. The inability to…
Bank accounts owned by a married couple are protected from the creditors of either spouse if the account is owned as tenants by the entireties. When a married couple opens a new bank account, they…
A small estate affidavit in Florida is a step in a summary administration, which allows for the distribution of a deceased person’s assets without the need for probate court. This process is typically used when…
Most drivers in Florida carry auto insurance. But sometimes the amount of this insurance is not enough to cover the injured person’s medical bills and loss of income. What happens if the car accident claim…
I got a call from a Florida businessman who owned a business in Jacksonville which had been sued. The court awarded a judgment against the business, but there is no judgment against the owner personally. The…
Trusts have many purposes, including avoiding probate, reducing estate taxation, or protecting assets from creditor risk. The type of trust and the terms of trust depend on the priority of various planning goals. When it…
An entrepreneur builds a profitable business with many years of hard work, long hours, and some luck. Dreaming of an exit and comfortable retirement, he makes the business available for sale. A larger company makes a…
Many people moving to Florida have previously made a will or created a living trust. Is their existing will or trust valid in Florida? Should they make a new will or amend their living trust?…
The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) issued a new rule (Rule 2021R-08F) addressing stabilizing braces used to convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, defined as a rifle having a barrel of fewer than 16…
A vacation home LLC is a family business that allows a vacation home owner to pass down their property, specifying how the property can be used and how decisions will be made. Many people from…
Protecting real estate after a lawsuit is filed against you is relatively difficult. Creditor collection remedies targeting real estate are easy and effective, and that real estate is fixed in place and cannot be moved…
Most withdrawals or distributions from retirement accounts can be protected even after being deposited into a bank account. The protection is dependent on state law and proper asset protection design. IRA, Pension and 401k Retirement…
In Florida, a trust protector is an individual or financial institution named in the trust agreement that facilitates the administration of a trust. Having a trust protector is not required—it is an optional feature of…
Landlords who lease residential or commercial property to tenants should be concerned about liability stemming from the tenant or guests of the tenant. For example, a tenant or a guest of the tenant could become…
Summary administration in Florida is a simplified process that provides a cheaper and quicker way to wind up a deceased person’s assets compared to formal probate. In order to file summary administration, (1) the value…
In Florida, a power of attorney ends after the death of the principal. A power of attorney is a legal document provided by Chapter 709 of Florida law that allows one person (called a “principal”)…
Sometimes clients want to know if their employee benefits can be subject to wage garnishment. The answer is no. Employee benefits cannot be garnished through a wage garnishment in Florida. Court Interpretation Florida courts have…
Suppose an employee has a stock purchase plan with his employer under IRS Code 423. The employer’s stock is publically traded. The plan gives the employee the option to receive stock in the employer company…
Tenants by entireties bank accounts can be tricky. Florida law provides that a joint marital bank account is presumed to be an exempt tenancy by entireties account unless there is contrary evidence. The issue is…
Inheritance of a Florida homestead is fast and easy. A Florida homestead is not subject to probate. Probate proceedings involve only assets subject to creditor claims. The Florida homestead is exempt from creditors, so it…
What is an S Corp? Some people set up offshore LLCs and foreign trusts to protect their ownership in a U.S.-based business. Most small businesses, whether they be corporations or limited liability companies, are arranged…
Many Russian oligarchs own homes in Florida. Even Vladimir Putin himself this week called out Russians “who have a villa in Miami or the French Riviera.” A reporter called me this week and asked if…
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…
In Florida, the owner of a vehicle can be held liable for a car accident caused by someone else driving their car. However, the liability is limited to $100,000 per person for bodily injury, but…
Suppose a person is subject to a relatively small money judgment owed to a credit card company. In this example, the judgment debtor receives monthly child support payments from her ex-husband. She accumulates the child…
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…
Community property is a system where property acquired during the marriage is considered to be owned jointly by both spouses. Community property states use the law to classify all assets, including income, real estate, personal…
A creditor’s collection against a debtor’s membership interest in a limited liability company is limited to a charging lien against the debtor’s “transferable interest.” A transferable interest makes the member eligible to receive LLC distributions….
A client wanted to know whether his commissions would be exempt from garnishment as head of household income even though the commissions were paid on a 1099 and the client was considered an independent contractor….
A deficiency judgment allows a mortgage lender to recover the difference between the outstanding balance of a mortgage note and the proceeds of a property foreclosure sale. In Florida, a deficiency judgment can also include costs and…
The general rule is that Florida residents cannot export Florida asset exemptions to other states. Therefore, out of state, or “foreign” judgments pose unique risks to judgment debtors living in Florida. Even though the judgment…
A recent client wanted to know if he would lose his homestead protection by temporarily renting out his homestead property to a tenant. In Florida, a judgment debtor’s homestead is absolutely protected from creditors. There…
A recent Florida bankruptcy case, In re De Bauer, examined when a non-citizen, or foreigner, could qualify for the Florida homestead protection. The Florida homestead is one of the most powerful asset protection tools for…
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…
What Is a Default Judgment? In Florida, a default judgment is a legal order entered when a defendant is served with a lawsuit but does not respond in time. A plaintiff can ask the judge…
For some businesses, the most valuable asset they have is their website and domain name. Even in cases where the website and domain names would not have any market value to anyone else, a judgment…
In most cases, bitcoin and cryptocurrency can be garnished by judgment creditors. It is a common misconception that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies cannot be garnished. Bitcoin accounts held at U.S. institutions like Coinbase can be…
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…
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has enhanced tools to collect income taxes from delinquent taxpayers. Federal law imposes a federal tax lien on all of a debtor taxpayer’s assets. The tax lien tax takes precedence over exemptions from execution that would…
Irrevocable trusts provide excellent asset protection for trust beneficiaries. Protection is codified in Florida statutes. Florida statute protect a beneficiary’s interests in irrevocable trusts that are either spendthrift trusts or discretionary trust. Florida statutes states…