Florida Statute 222.11 prohibits a creditor from garnishing the earnings of a debtor who qualifies as head of household. Florida residents working in another state are unable to enforce this garnishment exemption in foreign state…
In general, personal property acquired jointly by spouses in Florida is presumed to be owned as tenants by entireties. However, the rules can get tricky when it comes to opening a tenants by entireties bank…
We had married clients recently who suffered from catastrophic medical debt. Several years ago the wife was admitted to a hospital to treat a rare medical condition. The husband and wife had an medical insurance…
Piercing the corporate veil refers to the creditor tactic where a creditor with a judgment against a business pierces the corporation and transfers the judgment to the individual owners. Many business owners are worried that their…
In Florida, a surviving spouse automatically inherits the deceased spouse’s share of their joint property. If the deceased had separate property, the spouse typically inherits either all of it or a portion, depending on whether…
One of our clients asked us whether he could protect his investment in a newly purchased luxury car by taking title to the car in a “car trust.” The client had found an online article…
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…
Florida has enacted a statute specifically dealing with single member limited liability companies. The statute authorizes single member LLCs. The statute includes creditor remedies to collect a judgment from a debtor’s membership interest in the…
In Florida, a judgment lasts for 20 years. It can be renewed after the 20-year period, although this is rarely done. Judgments that are not recorded as liens, or are recorded as junior liens, are…
Florida is a “separate liability state” and a “separate property state.” Separate liability means that each spouse may contract individually with a creditor and incur separate debts, or both spouses may jointly execute a debt…
A joint bank account can be garnished for a judgment even if the judgment is only against one of the owners. In Florida, bank account garnishments apply to all of your accounts, whether you own…
Putting your house in a trust, such as a revocable living trust, offers some estate planning benefits in Florida, but some downsides as well. A trust has three parts: In Florida, putting your house in…
Summary Protecting Sale Proceeds Florida’s homestead exemption has been interpreted to provide protection not only for the physical homestead property, but also for both the cash and non-cash proceeds from a voluntary sale of the…
A Hungarian offshore trust is a legal arrangement where assets are transferred into a trust established under Hungarian law. It offers benefits such as asset protection, tax planning advantages, and confidentiality. To set up an…
I have been getting a lot of questions about what the minimum percent a second member needs to have in order for an LLC to qualify as a multi-member LLC. The purpose of forming a…
Some clients are unsure what happens to their Florida homestead if they do not have a will. In some situations, a decedent’s only substantial asset was their homestead. When someone dies without a will they…
The cash value and proceeds from a Florida annuity are exempt from creditors under Florida law. Annuities have a history dating back to the Roman Empire. Put simply, an annuity is a sum of money payable…
If a judgment creditor obtains a writ of garnishment against a bank all of a judgment debtor’s accounts at the bank will be frozen until a court orders the money to be turned over to…
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…
Technology has made it easier for people to operate a business at or next to their primary residence. Operating a commercial venture on the property where you reside raises issues about Florida’s homestead exemption from…
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…
Florida debtors often form LLCs in other states because they believe the laws of the foreign state provide better asset protection in the manner of protection of single-member LLCs or more privacy for multi-member LLC…
The answer is no. A foreigner does not need a green card to use Florida exemptions from creditors. Instead, courts make a decision based on the facts and circumstances for each particular person. Debtors can…
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…
Florida has adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA), which allows for the recognition and enforcement of judgments from other states as if they were judgments from a Florida court. This act simplifies…
From time to time we receive inquiries about using limit liability companies to avoid probate of business interests and real estate. Some people believe that they can write terms and conditions in an LLC operating…
Florida law protecting tenants by entireties bank accounts from garnishment against one spouse is based mostly on the Florida Supreme Court decision in the Beal Bank case. Most attorneys, on the debtor and creditor sides,…
Tenants by entireties assets are not protected from either spouse’s IRS debts. If the IRS acquires an income tax lien on one spouse who had filed separately the IRS lien attaches to the delinquent spouse’s…
Our client is the beneficiary of a life insurance policy on her husband’s life. The husband owns the policy. The client has a large civil judgment. The husband died, and the wife filed a claim…
Illegal immigration is in the news in 2018, including legal status of adults and their minor children. Florida courts have considered immigration status in the context of Florida homestead protection. The Supreme Court said in…
People who are moving to Florida often want to examine the exemption of their previously acquired assets under Florida law. The status of previously opened joint bank accounts is particularly confusing for people relocating to…
The lasting effects of a denial of bankruptcy discharge can be severe and long-lasting. When a discharge is denied, the debtor remains responsible for all debts that were included in the bankruptcy filing. This means…
Any individual may be a trustee and a beneficiary of a trust assuming that the trust agreement names other lifetime beneficiaries or successor beneficiaries after the death of the initial beneficiaries. For example, suppose a…
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…
I have a client who lives in Florida where he works as a w-2 employee of a company located outside of Florida. The employer has no offices or retail locations in Florida. A creditor sued…
After a car accident, the injured person’s attorney will often request that the at-fault party complete a personal financial affidavit or an affidavit of no other insurance or assets. The liable party can be the…
A debtor expects to inherit a significant amount of assets from a parent while he is already subject to a civil judgment. The debtor is concerned that the inherited assets will be exposed to his…
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…
Many people who realize that their parents may need of long term nursing home care will consider whether their parents will qualify for Medicaid assistance. Medicaid benefits are available for people with minimal assets: only…
The Florida homestead exemption is Florida’s best known asset protection law. The exemption becomes more complicated, and more limiting, when it interacts with certain provisions of federal law. One example is federal tax law pursuant…