How a Judgment Against You Affects Your Spouse in Florida

A money judgment against one spouse in Florida does not create any legal obligation for the non-debtor spouse. Florida is a separate liability state, which means each spouse is responsible only for debts they individually incur. A creditor holding a judgment against one spouse cannot collect from the other spouse’s separate property, garnish the other spouse’s wages, or pursue the other spouse for payment.

The protection is not absolute. A judgment against one spouse can still affect the non-debtor spouse through post-judgment discovery, potential fraudulent transfer claims, and the risk of losing tenants by the entireties protection under specific circumstances.

Florida’s Separate Liability Rule

Florida is both a separate liability state and a separate property state. Each spouse may contract individually with creditors and incur debts independently. One spouse’s credit card debt, personal guarantee, or tort liability does not become the other spouse’s obligation.

This distinguishes Florida from community property states like California, Texas, and Arizona, where most debts incurred during marriage are treated as joint marital obligations. In those states, a creditor with a judgment against one spouse can often reach community property and the other spouse’s share of marital assets. Florida does not follow this framework.

The separate liability rule means that a creditor must obtain a judgment against both spouses before the creditor can reach jointly held assets. Separate judgments against each spouse based on different causes of action do not qualify as a joint judgment, even if the same creditor holds both.

Tenants by the Entireties Protection

Married couples in Florida can hold both real and personal property as tenants by the entireties. This form of ownership treats the spouses as a single legal unit. A creditor with a judgment against only one spouse cannot reach any asset held as tenants by the entireties because the debtor spouse has no individual interest that can be separated from the whole.

The protection covers real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, vehicles, and other personal property. Joint bank accounts opened by married couples are presumed to be held as tenants by the entireties under Florida law. The creditor bears the burden of overcoming that presumption with clear and convincing evidence that the spouses intended a different form of ownership.

Tenants by the entireties protection has four important exceptions. A creditor holding a joint judgment against both spouses can seize entireties property. The IRS can pursue a debtor spouse’s interest in entireties property to satisfy federal tax liens, regardless of the non-debtor spouse’s ownership interest. Divorce severs the entireties estate and converts the ownership to tenants in common, immediately exposing each spouse’s share to their individual creditors. The death of one spouse ends the entireties ownership and vests full title in the surviving spouse, whose individual creditors can then reach the formerly protected property.

Post-Judgment Discovery Against the Non-Debtor Spouse

A judgment creditor can conduct post-judgment discovery against the non-debtor spouse even though the non-debtor spouse owes nothing. Florida’s post-judgment discovery rules under Rule 1.560(a) allow the creditor to obtain information from any person about any asset that could be used to satisfy the judgment.

The creditor can depose the non-debtor spouse under oath and ask about joint assets, knowledge of the debtor spouse’s financial situation, and any transfers of money or property between spouses. The creditor can also require the non-debtor spouse to produce financial documents, including bank statements, tax returns, and records of any property received from the debtor spouse.

This discovery serves two purposes. The creditor is looking for non-exempt assets in the debtor spouse’s name, and the creditor is investigating whether the debtor spouse transferred assets to the non-debtor spouse to avoid collection. Discovery of recent transfers often leads to fraudulent transfer claims.

Fraudulent Transfers Between Spouses

A debtor who transfers separate assets to the non-debtor spouse after a judgment is entered risks having those transfers reversed as fraudulent conveyances under Florida’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. The creditor files a separate lawsuit naming the non-debtor spouse as a defendant to recover the transferred property.

The consequences for the non-debtor spouse are significant. The non-debtor spouse must retain an attorney to defend the fraudulent transfer action, paying legal fees out of separate funds. If the court finds the transfer was made with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors, the court can void the transfer and order the property returned to the debtor spouse, where the creditor can then reach it.

Even transfers that appear innocent can be challenged. A debtor who retitles a bank account from individual ownership to joint ownership with a spouse, or who deposits individual funds into a joint account, creates a paper trail that creditors routinely scrutinize. The timing of the transfer relative to the lawsuit or judgment is the most important factor in the creditor’s analysis.

Transfers of homestead property from one spouse to the other are treated differently. Florida courts have held that the transfer of a debtor’s homestead to the non-debtor spouse cannot be attacked as a fraudulent conveyance because the homestead was already exempt from creditor claims at the time of transfer.

Judgment Liens and Jointly Owned Real Estate

A recorded judgment lien does not attach to real property held as tenants by the entireties when the judgment is against only one spouse. The lien also does not attach to property titled solely in the non-debtor spouse’s name. The non-debtor spouse can freely sell or mortgage separately owned real estate without any obligation to satisfy the debtor spouse’s judgment.

The risk arises when entireties ownership ends. If the spouses divorce, the formerly protected property converts to tenants in common, and the judgment lien attaches to the debtor spouse’s share. If the debtor spouse dies first, the surviving non-debtor spouse takes full ownership free of the lien. If the non-debtor spouse dies first, the debtor spouse becomes sole owner and the recorded lien attaches immediately.

A married couple that owns non-homestead real estate as tenants by the entireties should understand that the protection depends entirely on the marriage continuing and both spouses remaining alive.

Protecting Assets When One Spouse Faces a Judgment

The non-debtor spouse’s primary concern is maintaining the integrity of existing entireties ownership and avoiding any action that could be characterized as a fraudulent transfer. New deposits into joint accounts should come from legitimate joint sources, not from the debtor spouse’s individual income or assets. Retitling property from one spouse’s name to joint ownership after a judgment is entered invites scrutiny.

Assets already held as tenants by the entireties before the judgment was entered are generally safe as long as the marriage and joint ownership remain intact. The debtor spouse should avoid actions that would sever the entireties estate, such as transferring property to a trust without the non-debtor spouse’s involvement or opening new accounts with a different ownership designation.

A debtor facing a judgment should evaluate the full range of Florida judgment collection laws to understand which assets are vulnerable and which are protected.