← INSIGHTS

There is a moment after a hard-fought case when the judge signs the final judgment and the client thinks it is over. The fight is won, the number is on paper, and now the money comes. Except it usually does not. Not on its own. And that gap between winning and getting paid is where most people give up money they are legally owed.

Here is the part nobody tells you going in: a money judgment is not a check. It is a court's official permission to go get the money. The debtor does not write you a check because a judge told them to. If they were the type to pay what they owe, you would not have needed to sue them in the first place. Collecting is a second job, and it starts the day the judgment is entered.

Why Most People Never Collect

The single biggest reason creditors walk away empty-handed is that they treat the judgment as the finish line. They spent months and money on the lawsuit, they are exhausted, and the idea of starting a whole new process feels like too much. So the judgment sits in a drawer. In Florida, a judgment is good for 20 years, but a debtor's assets do not sit still for 20 years. They move, they hide, they disappear. Every month you wait, your odds get worse.

The second reason is simpler: people do not know where the money is. They have a judgment against a name, but no idea what that person or company actually owns, where they bank, or where they work. Without that information, a judgment is just a piece of paper. The good news is that Florida gives you powerful tools to find out — but only if you use them.

Step One: Make Them Tell You What They Have

Florida has a tool built specifically for this. When you obtain a money judgment, you can serve the debtor with a Fact Information Sheet — a court-ordered form that requires them to disclose their employer, their bank accounts, their vehicles, their real estate, and other assets, under oath. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.560 backs this up. If the debtor ignores it, they are in contempt of court, and that gets a judge's attention fast.

Beyond the Fact Information Sheet, you can conduct a deposition in aid of execution — putting the debtor under oath and asking them directly, in detail, where everything is. People who will lie on a form are often less willing to lie to your face with a court reporter taking it all down.

Step Two: Go Get It

Once you know where the assets are, Florida gives you several routes to actually take them:

Garnishment. If you know where the debtor banks, you can garnish the account and freeze the funds. If they have a job, you may be able to garnish wages, subject to Florida's head-of-household exemption, which protects the wages of someone who provides more than half the support for a dependent. That exemption catches a lot of creditors off guard, which is exactly why knowing the debtor's full situation matters before you spend money chasing wages you cannot reach.

Writ of execution. This directs the sheriff to seize and sell the debtor's non-exempt property — vehicles, equipment, inventory, and the like — to satisfy the judgment.

Judgment liens. Recording a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Department of State creates a lien on the debtor's personal property statewide. Recording a certified copy of the judgment in the county's official records creates a lien on any real estate they own in that county. Liens are patient — when the debtor eventually tries to sell or refinance, your judgment has to be paid first.

Know What You Cannot Touch

Florida is a debtor-friendly state, and part of collecting effectively is knowing what is off-limits before you waste time and money. The homestead exemption protects most primary residences from forced sale. Certain retirement accounts, annuities, life insurance, and wages of a head of household are protected. Property owned jointly by a married couple as tenants by the entireties is generally beyond the reach of a creditor who only has a judgment against one spouse.

None of this means collection is hopeless. It means collection requires a plan. A creditor who understands the exemptions can focus on the assets that are actually reachable instead of throwing good money after a bank account that turns out to be protected.

The Real Takeaway

Winning the case and collecting the money are two different jobs. The judgment gets you the legal right; a disciplined post-judgment process gets you the money. Move quickly while the debtor's assets are still where you can find them, use the discovery tools the law gives you to locate those assets, and choose your collection method based on what is actually reachable.

If you are sitting on an uncollected judgment in Collier, Lee, or Charlotte County, it is worth a conversation. Old judgments can often still be collected, but the trail gets colder every month. The sooner you start, the better your odds of turning that piece of paper into actual money.

Sitting on a judgment you have not collected?

We handle post-judgment collection across Southwest Florida, from locating assets to garnishment and liens. Call or send a message and we will tell you straight whether it is worth pursuing.

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