Who Is A Creditor?

There is a common misconception that a party has to either have filed a lawsuit against you or has a judgment against you to be considered your creditor for purposes of fraudulent conveyance law. Transfers or conversions of assets to evade creditors can be reversed or the transferee sued for the value of the conveyance. Under Florida law, the term creditor is liberally construed, and almost anyone you do business with can be considered a creditor even if there is no existing legal dispute.

Florida Statute 726.102 defines a creditor broadly to include any person who has a claim against you whether or not the claim is matured, disputed, contingent, or reduced to a judgment. Therefore, if you transfer your assets to avoid potential future judgments which may be brought by another party to a business relationship, that other party could set aside the transfer if the party later asserts a claim through legal action and gets a judgment. The point is that for most people there is a large class of parties who may in the future contest asset planning under Florida’s fraudulent conveyance laws.