Proceedings Supplementary in Florida

Proceedings supplementary is the primary legal mechanism Florida creditors use to reach a judgment debtor’s assets that are held by third parties or that the debtor has transferred to avoid collection. Governed by Florida Statute § 56.29, these proceedings operate within the same case where the original judgment was entered and give the court broad authority to order property applied toward the judgment, including property the debtor no longer possesses.

For anyone facing an unsatisfied judgment, proceedings supplementary represents the most aggressive tool in a creditor’s collection arsenal. The statute authorizes courts to implead third parties, reverse fraudulent transfers, enter money judgments against transferees, and hold uncooperative parties in contempt. Understanding how this process works is critical for effective asset protection planning.

How Proceedings Supplementary Begin

A judgment creditor initiates proceedings supplementary by filing a motion and affidavit in the court that issued the underlying judgment. The motion must identify the unsatisfied judgment amount, confirm that execution remains valid and outstanding, and describe with reasonable particularity any non-exempt property of the debtor that may be in the hands of a third party.

Once the creditor files the motion and affidavit, the court must grant proceedings supplementary as a matter of law. The court has no discretion to deny the motion if the statutory prerequisites are met. This is not a contested hearing. It is an automatic procedural right that every unsatisfied judgment creditor possesses throughout the 20-year life of the judgment.

Notice to Appear

After proceedings supplementary are opened, the court issues a Notice to Appear directed at any third party the creditor has identified as holding the debtor’s property. The Notice to Appear must describe the specific property the creditor seeks and must be served on the third party in the same manner as a new lawsuit under Chapter 48 of the Florida Statutes.

The recipient of a Notice to Appear has no fewer than seven business days to file a responding affidavit explaining why the identified property should not be applied to satisfy the judgment. The responding affidavit must include all factual defenses. Legal defenses such as lack of personal jurisdiction need not be sworn but must be filed at the same time. Failing to raise a defense in the responding affidavit can result in that defense being waived.

Any person who fails to appear or obey an order issued in proceedings supplementary may be held in contempt under § 56.29(7). Contempt in this context can include incarceration, making noncooperation a serious risk for both the debtor and any third party holding the debtor’s property.

Examination of the Debtor

Proceedings supplementary give the creditor extensive rights to examine the judgment debtor under oath. A witness examined under § 56.29 cannot refuse to answer questions on the ground that the answer might reveal participation in a fraud or a conveyance designed to defeat creditors. The statute removes the ordinary privilege against self-incrimination for these purposes, though answers given in proceedings supplementary cannot be used as evidence in a criminal proceeding.

This examination is distinct from the deposition in aid of execution available under Rule 1.560 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Creditors can use both tools, and often do. The deposition discovers assets broadly, while the proceedings supplementary examination presses on specific transfers and relationships between the debtor and third parties.

Impleading Third Parties

One of the most powerful features of proceedings supplementary is the creditor’s ability to bring third parties into the case without filing a new lawsuit. If the creditor believes a third party holds the debtor’s property, whether a family member, business partner, LLC, or trust, the creditor can implead that person directly into the existing case.

For claims brought under Florida’s fraudulent transfer statute (Chapter 726), the creditor must file a supplemental complaint and serve it under the Rules of Civil Procedure. The clerk dockets the supplemental complaint under the same case number and assigns it to the same judge. This means the creditor avoids the expense and delay of initiating a separate action, and the debtor faces the same judge who already entered the original judgment.

The practical effect is that asset transfers to family members, friends, or entities the debtor controls are all reachable within the original case. A debtor who transfers property to a spouse, child, or closely held LLC and assumes the creditor must file a separate lawsuit to challenge the transfer is mistaken.

Fraudulent Transfers in Proceedings Supplementary

Proceedings supplementary include their own mechanism for addressing fraudulent transfers. Section 56.29(3) creates a presumption that personal property transfers made within one year before service of process in the original case are fraudulent if the recipient is the debtor’s spouse, a relative, or someone on “confidential terms” with the debtor. The burden shifts to the debtor to prove the transfer was not made to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors.

If the court finds that a transfer of personal property was fraudulent, it can void the transfer and direct the sheriff to seize the property to satisfy the execution. Exempt property and property acquired by a bona fide purchaser for value without notice are excluded.

Separately, § 56.29(9) allows the court to entertain fraudulent transfer claims under Chapter 726 within the proceedings supplementary framework. These claims are broader. They can reach real property, authorize money judgments against transferees, and provide equitable remedies including injunctions and receivership. However, Chapter 726 claims must be initiated by supplemental complaint rather than by motion.

The Statute of Limitations Conflict

The interaction between proceedings supplementary and Chapter 726’s four-year statute of limitations is one of the most unsettled areas of Florida collection law. The question is whether a creditor can use § 56.29(3) to challenge personal property transfers that occurred more than four years ago, given that proceedings supplementary can be initiated at any time during the judgment’s 20-year life.

Florida appellate courts have reached opposite conclusions. One line of cases holds that § 56.29(3) operates independently of Chapter 726 and allows challenges to qualifying personal property transfers throughout the judgment’s life. The opposing view applies Chapter 726’s four-year deadline to all fraudulent transfer claims, including those raised in proceedings supplementary.

The Eleventh Circuit certified this question to the Florida Supreme Court in late 2025 in Saadi v. Maroun, asking the court to resolve whether money judgments against transferees are available under § 56.29(3), whether transferred funds must remain identifiable, and whether the 2014 amendments imposed Chapter 726 limitation periods on proceedings supplementary claims. The Florida Supreme Court’s decision will significantly affect both creditors’ enforcement options and debtors’ exposure to long-past transfers.

From an asset protection standpoint, the unresolved conflict means that personal property transfers to insiders—including LLC membership interests—may remain vulnerable to challenge for up to 20 years. Planning that relies on the four-year limitations period may prove unreliable until the Florida Supreme Court rules.

Court Powers and Remedies

The court’s authority in proceedings supplementary is exceptionally broad. Section 56.29(6) authorizes the court to enter “any orders, judgments, or writs required” to carry out the statute’s purpose, including orders to subject the debtor’s property or property rights to execution. The court can enter money judgments against any person to whom a Notice to Appear was directed, regardless of whether that person still holds the property.

This means a transferee who received the debtor’s property and later sold it or spent it can still face a money judgment for the property’s value. The creditor is not limited to recovering the specific item transferred—if the property has been dissipated, the court can enter a judgment against the transferee personally.

The 2023 amendments added § 56.29(6)(b), which authorizes the court to order the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to note the creditor’s judgment lien on the certificate of title for any nonexempt motor vehicle or vessel. This provision closes a gap that previously allowed debtors to sell titled vehicles during collection proceedings.

Asset Protection Implications

Proceedings supplementary is the primary reason that last-minute asset transfers do not work as an asset protection strategy. A debtor who faces a judgment and transfers property to a spouse, relative, or entity controlled by the debtor is creating exactly the scenario this statute was designed to address. The creditor can challenge the transfer in the same case, without filing a new lawsuit, before a judge already familiar with the debtor’s financial situation.

Effective protection against proceedings supplementary requires planning completed well before any claim arises. Property held in properly structured exempt forms—homestead, qualified retirement accounts, annuities, and tenants by entireties ownership—is excluded from execution under proceedings supplementary. Property that is genuinely exempt does not become vulnerable simply because it is held by a third party or was acquired through a conversion of non-exempt assets, provided the conversion was not itself a fraudulent transfer.

The judgment collection process in Florida gives creditors multiple overlapping tools, but proceedings supplementary is the mechanism that connects all of the others. It is the procedural vehicle through which creditors pursue transferred assets, implead third parties, and obtain court orders enforcing judgment liens against specific property. Any asset protection plan must account for its reach.