Asset Protection Strategies in Florida
There is little use in building up personal or business assets if they are inadequately protected from judgment creditors — both during life and after death. Building a plan to protect your assets is an important part of the estate planning process. However, protecting your assets is just as important during life.
At the Orlando business and real estate law firm of Pierce & Associates, P.L., our founder has more than 40 years' legal experience that he brings to bear on behalf of our AV-rated* law firm's clients. We limit our practice to specific areas of law, including real estate, the rights afforded to judgment debtors, business law and estate planning. When you contact our law firm, you will meet directly with attorney John G. Pierce to discuss strategies to protect your personal and business assets.
Protecting Your Business Assets
When starting a business, it is important to protect your personal assets from liability in case of a lawsuit against your business. Incorporation will prevent personal liability in case the business is sued. However, incorporation may not sufficiently protect your business assets. For example, if someone sues you personally for your acts (not the acts of the business) and gets a judgment against you, that judgment creditor may levy the stock of your corporation and become the effective owner of your business. If you form a limited liability company (LLC) instead, and a judgment is entered against the LLC, the judgment creditor may get a charging order against distributions. However, the judgment creditor may not stop the LLC from ceasing distributions and instead paying salaries to its members. Florida law does not allow wage garnishment of the head of household's salary.
Considerations like proper protection of your business assets must factor into the question of whether to choose a corporation or LLC as the proper form of your business venture.
Protecting Your Financial Assets
You should consider asset protection strategies even when performing such mundane tasks as opening a new bank account. For example, under Florida law, you cannot levy on jointly held assets if you have a judgment against only one party. Another example, if a judgment creditor gets a judgment against one spouse, the creditor cannot levy on a joint bank account.
Protecting Your Real Estate Assets
In Florida, homesteaded property is exempt from levy and execution of judgments. To protect your primary residence, you should ensure that it has homestead status. Furthermore, out-of-state residents who anticipate a large civil judgment against them may consider purchasing and homesteading real estate in Florida to protect their financial assets from the upcoming judgment.
Get More Information About These and Other Asset Protection Strategies
Schedule a private consultation with experienced Florida real estate and business lawyer John G. Pierce. To make an appointment, call 407-982-3869 or use our online intake form.
* CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell Ratings evaluate two categories--legal ability and general ethical standards. An AV rating is reserved for attorneys whose legal ability is rated by other attorneys as very high to pre-eminent.
