Post-Judgment Interest in Florida

Post-judgment interest in Florida accrues on every money judgment from the date of entry until the judgment is paid. The current statutory rate for Q2 2026 is 8.25% per year, set by the Chief Financial Officer under § 55.03. At that rate, a $500,000 judgment generates roughly $41,250 per year in interest alone. That interest continues accumulating for the full 20-year life of the judgment.

Florida courts do not compound post-judgment interest. Interest accrues as simple interest on the judgment principal each day, calculated using the daily rate decimal published by the CFO. The rate adjusts over time, and in recent years it has ranged from approximately 4.25% to over 9.50%, tracking Federal Reserve policy with a lag.

How Is the Post-Judgment Interest Rate Set?

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer publishes the statutory rate four times per year (on December 1, March 1, June 1, and September 1) for the following calendar quarter. The formula averages the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s discount rate over the preceding 12 months and adds 400 basis points. When the Federal Reserve raises or lowers rates, the Florida judgment interest rate follows with a built-in delay.

The statutory rate applies unless a written contract between the parties specifies a different rate. Judgments arising from contracts that include an interest provision (promissory notes, commercial leases, credit agreements) use the contractual rate instead. The contractual rate can be higher or lower than the statutory rate and remains fixed regardless of later changes to the CFO’s published rate.

The CFO’s website publishes both a rate per annum and a daily rate as a decimal carried to nine decimal places. The daily rate decimal is the standard figure practitioners use to compute interest. Using the annual rate and dividing by 365 can produce minor rounding differences, and Florida courts have not addressed which figure controls. Most practitioners use the daily decimal as published.

How Post-Judgment Interest Adjusts Over Time

Florida law has changed twice in the last three decades, creating three distinct regimes that still affect outstanding judgments today.

Before October 1998. The statutory rate was set annually and remained fixed for the life of the judgment. From October 1981 through December 1994, the rate was 12% per year. Any judgment entered during that period that remains unsatisfied still accrues interest at 12%.

October 1998 through June 2011. The Legislature amended § 55.03 to provide that the rate established at entry would remain the same until the judgment was paid. The Florida Supreme Court in Townsend v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (2016) confirmed that people who obtained judgments during this window have a vested right to the fixed rate. A judgment entered in 2005 at 7% continues accruing at 7% regardless of subsequent rate changes.

July 2011 to present. Chapter 2011-169 introduced annual rate adjustments. The rate is set at entry based on the current quarter’s rate, then adjusts every January 1 to whatever rate the CFO has established. A judgment entered mid-year may start at one rate and shift the following January, then adjust again each subsequent year until paid.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Precision Diagnostic, Inc. v. Progressive American Insurance Co. (2021) confirmed that the adjustment is annual, not quarterly—even though the CFO sets rates every quarter, § 55.03 only provides for adjustment on January 1.

Era	Rate behavior	Example
Pre-1998	Fixed at entry for life of judgment	12% (1981–1994)
1998–2011	Fixed at entry per Townsend	7% judgment in 2005 stays at 7%
Post-2011	Adjusts annually on January 1	Rate at entry shifts each Jan 1

How to Calculate Interest on a Florida Judgment

Post-judgment interest is calculated using a daily formula: the judgment amount multiplied by the daily rate decimal multiplied by the number of days elapsed. For a $200,000 judgment at the current Q2 2026 rate of 8.25% (daily decimal: 0.000226027), the interest accrues at approximately $45.21 per day.

For judgments entered on or after July 1, 2011, interest must be tracked year by year. The initial rate runs from the date of entry through December 31, and a new rate takes effect the following January 1. Each January 1 reset uses the quarterly rate the CFO published for that date. A judgment entered in August 2024 at 9.50% would adjust to 9.38% the following January, then to 8.44% a year later.

The statute is silent on rounding. Most practitioners carry the full decimal through each annual segment and round only the final total to two decimal places.

How Partial Payments Are Applied

When a debtor makes partial payments on a judgment, the payment applies first to accrued interest and then to principal—unless the parties agree otherwise. This allocation rule means early payments may not reduce the principal balance at all if substantial interest has already accumulated.

A $200,000 judgment entered at 9% generates approximately $18,000 in interest after one year, bringing the total owed to roughly $218,000. If the debtor pays $15,000 at the one-year mark, the entire payment goes to interest, leaving $3,000 in unpaid interest and the full $200,000 principal still outstanding. The debtor has paid $15,000 and reduced the total obligation by only that amount in interest without touching the principal.

Federal Judgments Accrue Interest at a Lower Rate

Judgments entered in federal court use a different rate. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1961, federal post-judgment interest is calculated using the weekly average one-year Treasury bill rate as of the date the judgment is entered. The federal rate in April 2026 is approximately 3.69%, less than half the Florida state rate of 8.25%.

Unlike Florida post-2011 judgments, the federal rate is fixed at entry and does not adjust annually. A federal judgment entered when Treasury yields are low will accrue interest at that low rate for its entire life, regardless of later rate changes.

The difference between state and federal rates creates real consequences for debtors facing both types of judgments. A $500,000 federal judgment accrues roughly $18,450 per year at 3.69%, compared to approximately $41,250 per year for the same amount in Florida state court. Over five years, the state judgment generates more than $100,000 in additional interest. That difference can influence whether a debtor prioritizes settling one judgment over the other.

Prejudgment Interest vs. Post-Judgment Interest

Prejudgment interest compensates the plaintiff for the loss of use of money between the date the obligation arose and the date the judgment is entered. In contract cases, prejudgment interest is generally available as a matter of right at the statutory rate from the date payment was due. In tort cases, Florida courts have allowed prejudgment interest only when the plaintiff can show an ascertainable out-of-pocket loss at a fixed date before judgment.

Once a final judgment is entered, post-judgment interest replaces prejudgment interest and begins accruing automatically. The judgment should state the applicable interest rate on its face as required by § 55.03(2). If the judgment does not include the interest rate, the sheriff is not required to collect on the writ.

Prejudgment interest is generally not folded into the judgment amount for purposes of calculating post-judgment interest. The Florida Supreme Court in Quality Engineered Installation, Inc. v. Higley South, Inc. (1996) ruled that prejudgment interest becomes part of the total sum adjudged to be due, but Florida courts have since clarified that post-judgment interest runs on the principal, costs, and attorney’s fees—not on previously awarded prejudgment interest. Including prejudgment interest in the base would effectively compound interest, which Florida law disfavors.

Interest and Settlement Strategy

Post-judgment interest creates financial pressure on both sides of a settlement negotiation. The debtor watches the judgment grow by tens of dollars daily for every $100,000 owed. Delay increases the total liability, and interest continues accruing even while the debtor claims exemptions or contests collection efforts.

For the creditor, the interest clock cuts both ways. A creditor holding an uncollectable judgment watches the nominal balance grow while receiving nothing. If the debtor’s assets are largely exempt—protected by homestead, head-of-household wages, retirement accounts, or tenants by entireties ownership—the growing interest balance represents theoretical rather than collectible value.

A debtor whose assets are well protected can offer a lump-sum settlement that represents immediate, certain recovery for the creditor. The creditor’s alternative is continuing to hold a judgment that grows on paper but produces no actual payment. At current rates, a $300,000 judgment accrues over $24,000 per year in interest. A creditor who cannot reach the debtor’s protected assets may prefer $75,000 in hand today over $400,000 on paper five years from now.

The widening distance between the judgment balance and the settlement offer is not a sign of weakness in the debtor’s position—it reflects the reality that exempt assets remain beyond the creditor’s reach regardless of how large the judgment becomes.

When Post-Judgment Interest Stops Accruing

Post-judgment interest stops accruing when the judgment is satisfied in full, when the debtor files for bankruptcy and receives a discharge, or when the judgment expires after 20 years. A satisfaction of judgment filed under § 55.141 terminates both the judgment and any further interest accrual. Interest is one of several judgment collection tools that shape the debtor’s exposure and the creditor’s leverage.

In bankruptcy, post-judgment interest on unsecured claims is generally not allowed under the Bankruptcy Code. If the debtor receives a Chapter 7 discharge, the underlying judgment and all accrued interest are extinguished. Creditors aware of this risk sometimes prefer to negotiate a settlement rather than push a debtor into bankruptcy, where they may receive nothing.