Your judgment creditor can target automobiles you own free and clear of any lean. Clients often ask me how a creditor goes about taking their cars. A particular concern is creditors entering the homestead grounds…
No, selling property subject to a lender’s security interest is a crime. Many small business loans from banks are secured by the business’s tangible personal property including office furniture, equipment, and inventory. The lender typically…
Prior to 2011, when the estate tax exemption was much lower, most estate planning attorneys preferred to separate spouses’ assets in separate living trusts to make sure each spouse received their full estate tax exemption….
How long do you have to be a Florida resident to qualify for Florida’s asset protection laws? The answer is that Florida’ s asset protection exemptions apply immediately to new Florida residents; there is no…
There have been several court decisions in the past few years confirming homestead exemption of debtor’s primary residences owned in the debtor’s testamentary living trust. The Florida Constitution gives homestead protection to “natural persons, ”…
Attorneys must not become agents or participants in their clients’ fraudulent transfers. Attorneys should not prepare transfer documents nor handle money to assist a conveyance which might reasonably be challenged as a fraudulent conveyance. The…
garnishment execution judgment
Most people bank at local branches of traditional banks, such as Sun Trust, Bank of America, etc. A judgment creditor can garnish funds in any of the debtor’s bank accounts by serving a writ of…
Your judgment creditor cannot levy upon a car that you lease because you do not have title to the car. True, most of the time. One of my asset protection clients of my clients stated…
The Florida Supreme Court decision this summer which removed charging lien protection for single member LLCs has caused business owners and their attorneys to search for ways to make sure their LLCs have more than…
Tenancy by entireties is an effective, simple, and economical asset protection tool for a married Florida debtor where only one of the married spouses has creditor issues. The primary problem with entireties protection is that…
Over the years I have recommended Nevis LLCs to many asset protection clients. Most people who have formed a Nevis LLC has asked about how and where his money will be invested within the LLC…
Debtors fear court imposed asset freezes prior to judgment. If a creditor can convince a court to freeze a debtor’s assets after the creditor files a lawsuit but before the cases is decided and judgment…
Totten trusts and UTMA(“uniform gift to minors”) financial accounts have different consequences for asset protection Totten trusts are not protected from creditors because the accounts could be revoked or invaded by the parent, whereas the…
I advise clients to open accounts specifically titled as tenants by entireties so they don’t have to rely on the legal presumption that creditors can overcome and rebut under some circumstances. There is nothing to…
Limited liability companies are generally better asset protection entities than corporations. A judgment debtor can levy upon the debtor’s stock in a corporation and, in the case of a small corporation, possibly stop the corporation…
If one spouse deeds property to themselves and their spouse, it creates a tenancy by entireties under Florida law. Tenancy by entireties ownership requires certain characteristics. One requirement is that husband and wife must acquire…
Many of my clients currently live in another state and are considering moving to Florida for asset protection purposes. Almost everyone wants to know when homestead protection applies to a new Florida home they will…
The Florida Constitution includes three specific exceptions to homestead protection: consensual liens (mortgages), taxes and assessments (homeowners associations), and debts for improvement (mechanics liens). However, an important fourth exception, established not in the Constitution but…
The Florida constitution exempts a person’s primary residence from forced sale to satisfy a judgment debt. Can you exempt as homestead a commercial building with a second-floor apartment used as your primary residence? Under Florida…
No. Your homestead is not protected against HOA liens and judgments. While the Florida homestead protects your property from creditors, there are exceptions. One of the exceptions is a consensual (voluntary) lien. A mortgage is…
If you have a homestead inside a municipality, you may think to segreate a half-acre of the parcel to make it comply with Florida law’s 1/2 acre limit of protected homestead. The answer is no….
The answer is yes. Workers’ compensation is fully exempt from judgment creditors under Florida Statute section 440.22. This is a different exemption that Florida Statute 222.11, which protects wages and other compensation earned by a…
People trying to avoid judgment creditors often try to convert assets to cash and plan to hide the cash from discovery. Clients have told me from time to time about very creative strategies to hold…
Personal property located within the homestead is not protected by Florida’s homestead laws which pertain only to real property. Can your furniture, clothes, and other property located in your home still be protected? The answer…
Many elderly people own their homestead properties free and clear. The question is often whether the nursing home or medical providers can levy upon the homestead to collect medical debts after their parents move from…
“Reasonably equivalent value” refers to a legal concept used primarily in bankruptcy and fraudulent transfer law. It describes the market value of an asset at the time of its transfer. This concept is crucial when…
No. Alimony is not subject to claims of creditors by seizure or garnishment under Florida law. The Florida Statutes do not exempt alimony from execution by creditors. Alimony is considered a form of income. Therefore,…
No, restricted stock is not protected from creditors. A creditor can access the stock, but only to the extent that the debtor themselves can as well. There are very few cases in Florida dealing with…
When a creditor improperly garnishes a protected bank account, the debtor must get a court order dissolving the garnishment. First, review the garnishment notice to understand the reason and legal basis for the garnishment. Determine…
You can remove a judgment lien from homestead property upon sale or refinance of the home. Florida Statute 222.01(2) provides a procedure for sending a form notice to judgment creditors claiming a homestead exemption. The…
Yes. Proceeds from a reverse mortgage of a Florida homestead can be exempt from creditor attachment. Reverse mortgages tap into home equity by providing a lifetime income stream in exchange for a mortgage on your…
The answer is yes. You can have two separate houses that both qualify for the Florida homestead exemption so long as the land is contiguous and under the 160-acre limit. In most cases where a…
Yes. ITF bank accounts are not considered property of the parents. They are property of the child. Therefore, they are protected from creditors of the parents. What Is an ITF Bank Account? An ITF bank…
Most people know that a parent can be liable for accidents caused by their minor children. But can a parent be liable for an accident caused by adult children? The answer is yes. A parent…
The general rule is that property owned by a husband and wife as joint tenants with rights of survivorship is presumed to be a tenancy by the entireties. That means it is is protected from…
The answer is no. You do not need a separate wage account to protect salary from creditors. Wages paid to the head of household are exempt from creditors. The wages remain exempt for six months…
The answer is yes. A boat can qualify as a protected homestead in Florida so long as it was originally designed to be used as a home. Florida court decisions have broadly applied homestead protection…
A Florida resident can temporarily move out of his Florida residence and still claim the residence as his homestead as long as he demonstrates the intent to return to the property as his permanent home….
The answer is no. The homestead protection does not cover the rented portion of a duplex in Florida if the duplex is located in the city. prior to 1968, the Florida Constitution protected the residence…