Florida Probate Litigation Lawyer Blog
Is Investing Homestead Sale Proceeds Okay?
Florida Constitution provides protection from forced sale to homestead property from most creditors. Art. X, § 4, Fla. Const. The protection covers not only the physical homestead property but also the proceeds from the sale of the homestead, provided the proceeds are reinvested in another homestead property. In a scenario where you invest the homestead sale money in securities and then buy another homestead with it, does the money retain homestead protection?
The Florida Supreme Court answered this question in the affirmative in a recent 2016 decision JBK Assocs. v. Sill Bros., 191 So. 3d 879 (Fla. 2016). In that case, JBK Associates, Inc. (“JBK”) obtained a final judgment against Mr. Sill for $740,487.22. Mr. Sill had consequently opened a brokerage account with Wels Fargo and deposited the sale proceeds from the marital home of Mr. Sill and his ex-wife. The account was titled “FL Homestead Account” and was split into three sub-accounts, one containing cash and two containing mutual funds and unit investment trusts.
