Yes, to a substantial degree. Florida Statute 222.14 exempts the proceeds of annuity contracts issued to citizens or residents of the state from attachment, garnishment, and other legal process brought by a creditor. Florida sets no dollar cap on this exemption. It is not absolute: fraudulent transfers, federal tax liens, and bankruptcy timing rules all narrow it.
What follows describes the statute and how Florida and federal courts have read it. It is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to purchase an annuity or to move any asset. Whether a particular contract is exempt from creditor claims turns on facts and timing that only a Florida asset protection attorney can evaluate.
What Florida Statute 222.14 actually says
The section is titled “Exemption of cash surrender value of life insurance policies and annuity contracts from legal process.” The Florida Senate publishes the operative language, which has stood in substantially this form since 1925:
“The cash surrender values of life insurance policies issued upon the lives of citizens or residents of the state and the proceeds of annuity contracts issued to citizens or residents of the state, upon whatever form, shall not in any case be liable to attachment, garnishment or legal process in favor of any creditor of the person whose life is so insured or of any creditor of the person who is the beneficiary of such annuity contract, unless the insurance policy or annuity contract was effected for the benefit of such creditor.”
The full text is available from the Florida Senate’s statutes site. Two categories of property are covered. The first is the cash surrender value of life insurance policies on the lives of Florida residents. The second is the proceeds of annuity contracts issued to Florida residents. The phrase “upon whatever form” signals that the payout mechanics of a given contract are not the test.
Note what the exemption statute does not do. It does not prevent creditors from suing, it does not erase a judgment for a car accident or a wrongful death claim, and it does not make an annuity purchase invisible. It blocks one thing: the use of legal process to reach that specific property to satisfy an ordinary creditor claim.
Is the Florida annuity exemption unlimited in amount?
The text contains no dollar figure, no percentage, and no needs-based test. That is the practical meaning of an uncapped exemption, and it is why Florida is discussed so often in this area. Chapter 222 as a whole reflects the same drafting approach in several places, including Florida’s homestead protection. Florida and Texas are the two states most often named when people say annuities are protected from creditors without a stated ceiling.
Other states draw the line differently. California’s Code of Civil Procedure section 704.100, published by Justia, exempts the aggregate loan value of unmatured life insurance and annuity policies only up to a fixed dollar amount that is adjusted periodically, and exempts benefits from matured policies only “to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the judgment debtor.” Texas Insurance Code section 1108.051 sits closer to Florida, making insurance and annuity benefits “fully exempt from: garnishment, attachment, execution, or other seizure” without a stated ceiling. Two people holding identical contracts in Florida and in a capped state can face very different outcomes.
Whose creditors does the exemption stop?
On its face the statute speaks of “any creditor of the person who is the beneficiary of such annuity contract.” Florida courts have not read “beneficiary” narrowly to mean only a named death beneficiary. In Goldenberg v. Sawczak, 791 So. 2d 1078 (Fla. 2001), the person asserting the exemption was the living owner and annuitant of the contracts, and the Florida Supreme Court applied section 222.14 in his favor. The opinion is available through CourtListener.
Death benefits sit under a separate provision. Florida Statute 222.13 provides that when a Florida resident dies leaving insurance on his or her life, the insurance proceeds “shall be exempt from the claims of creditors of the insured” unless the policy or a valid assignment provides otherwise. That same section says the insurance proceeds become part of the estate when the policy is payable to the insured or the insured’s estate, which is one reason beneficiary designations matter in estate planning.
The statute also contains its own carve-out. If the insurance policy or annuity contract “was effected for the benefit of such creditor,” the exemption does not apply. A contract pledged, assigned, or written for the benefit of a lender is outside the protection.
Are annuity proceeds protected after a withdrawal?
This was the precise question in Goldenberg. The Eleventh Circuit certified it to the Florida Supreme Court, which held that the “proceeds of annuity contracts” include money received from surrendering an annuity contract before maturity. The court reasoned that a surrender payment and a maturity payment differ only by the surrender charge, so both are proceeds. The cash surrender value of an in-force contract is therefore within the exemption while the owner is alive.
That holding addresses the character of the money as it leaves the contract. It does not decide every downstream question. Once funds are commingled in a checking account with wages, deposits, and transfers, tracing becomes a factual dispute, and separate garnishment rules govern bank accounts. Do not assume protection travels indefinitely with the dollars.
What counts as an annuity under the statute?
Chapter 222 does not define the term. In In re McCollam, 612 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 1993), summarized by Justia, the Florida Supreme Court answered a certified question about an annuity contract created to fund a lump sum settlement obligation. The majority read the statutory language broadly and found the contract qualified because it was an annuity that pays fixed, periodic amounts for life or a term of years. The type of annuity mattered less than whether the arrangement fit the statutory term. A dissent argued the term was ambiguous and that the legislature had insurance of human lives in mind.
That tension has not fully resolved. A 1993 Florida Bar Journal article by Shore and Redmond, published by The Florida Bar, observed that “neither the courts nor the legislature have formulated an objective definition for an exemptible annuity,” and proposed criteria to fill the gap. Bankruptcy courts and Florida trial courts continue to decide, contract by contract, whether an arrangement is an annuity that qualifies. Fixed annuities, variable annuities, and indexed annuities issued by licensed insurance companies are conventional cases; private annuities between individuals and unusual payment structures are where the litigation happens. Anyone whose position depends on this classification needs a Florida attorney reviewing the actual contract, not an article.
The Florida residency requirement
The exemption reaches contracts “issued to citizens or residents of the state.” An annuity contract issued to a Florida resident is squarely within the words. People who move to Florida sometimes assume the exemption follows them automatically. What is less settled is how courts treat a contract bought elsewhere years before the owner moved to Florida, or a contract issued to a Florida resident who later leaves. Reported outcomes are fact-driven, and residency questions are frequently litigated rather than assumed. This is not a point to resolve by reading a statute.
Where the exemption stops
Fraudulent transfers and fraudulent asset conversions
Florida Statute 222.30 defines a “conversion” as changing or disposing of an asset so that the proceeds become exempt while remaining the debtor’s property, and makes such a conversion voidable where the debtor acted “with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud the creditor.” Chapter 726, Florida’s fraudulent transfer law, works alongside it; section 726.105 reaches transfers made “with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor of the debtor” and lists badges of fraud courts weigh, including transfers to insiders, concealment, pending or threatened litigation, transfer of substantially all assets, insolvency, and inadequate consideration. Section 222.30 sets a four-year limitations period for a conversion claim.
The plain consequence: converting cash into an annuity while a claim is pending or foreseeable invites exactly this challenge. Timing and intent are what courts examine.
Federal tax liens
State exemptions do not bind the IRS. Under 26 U.S.C. 6334(c), “no property or rights to property shall be exempt from levy other than the property specifically made exempt by subsection (a),” and that federal list does not include annuity contracts. A Florida exemption statute cannot defeat a federal tax levy. Other federal claims, including certain restitution and forfeiture orders, follow federal rules rather than chapter 222.
Child support and alimony
Family support obligations are treated differently from ordinary commercial debts. Florida Statute 61.12 subjects “money or other things due to any person” to attachment or garnishment to enforce court orders for alimony, suit money, or child support. Section 222.14 contains no express support exception, and how the two statutes interact in a given enforcement action is a question for counsel, not a settled rule to rely on.
Bankruptcy timing rules
Florida has opted out of the federal exemption menu. Florida Statute 222.20 states that residents “shall not be entitled to the federal exemptions provided in s. 522(d)” of the Bankruptcy Code, while 222.201 permits a debtor to claim the items listed in section 522(d)(10) in addition to state exemptions. A Florida debtor in a bankruptcy court therefore relies on section 222.14 itself.
Which state’s exemptions apply is a separate question. Under 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3)(A), a debtor uses the exemptions of the state where his or her domicile was located for the 730 days before filing; if domicile was not in a single state for that period, the law looks back to the 180 days preceding the 730-day window. Someone who moves to Florida shortly before a federal bankruptcy filing may be held to another state’s exemption scheme. Section 522 also carries anti-abuse provisions aimed at assets converted before filing.
Contracts written for a creditor
As noted above, the statute withholds protection where the annuity contract was effected for the benefit of such creditor. Assignments and collateral pledges matter.
How this fits with other Florida exemptions
Section 222.14 is one entry in a broader chapter. Florida Statute 222.21 exempts money and assets payable from a tax-qualified retirement plan or retirement account, including plans under Internal Revenue Code sections 401(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, and 457(b), and extends that treatment to inherited accounts, with an express exception for qualified domestic relations orders. Florida’s constitutional homestead protection, wage protections for a head of household, and section 222.13 for life insurance proceeds round out the picture of which assets are protected. A qualified annuity held inside an IRA may implicate both statutes; a non-qualified annuity rests on section 222.14 alone.
A caution about framing
Section 222.14 is a creditor exemption statute enacted by the Florida legislature. It is not a product feature, and it is not an asset protection strategy that an insurance agency should be presenting as a reason to purchase an annuity. Annuities are designed to convert a sum of money into a stream of annuity payments, and they carry surrender charges, liquidity constraints, expense structures, and tax consequences that exist regardless of exemption law. Any use of exemption law in estate planning and asset protection planning also has to survive the fraudulent transfer rules described above, which is precisely why this belongs with a Florida attorney before, not after, a decision is made.
Frequently asked questions
Can creditors go after your annuity in Florida?
An annuity contract issued to a Florida resident is generally protected from creditor claims of ordinary judgment holders, because section 222.14 shields it from attachment, garnishment or legal process. The exceptions above still apply, and a creditor can contest whether the contract qualifies or whether it was funded to defraud creditors.
Can you be sued over an annuity?
Yes. An exemption is a defense to collection, not immunity from suit. A plaintiff can sue, obtain a judgment, and pursue discovery into assets. The exemption is asserted when the creditor tries to seize the specific property.
What assets are exempt from creditors in Florida?
Chapter 222 and the Florida Constitution cover homestead property, tax-qualified retirement accounts, annuity contracts and the cash value of life insurance policies, wages of a head of household, and several smaller categories. Each has its own conditions.
Can you pass an annuity to your children?
A contract’s death benefit passes to whoever is named as beneficiary under the contract terms. What that transfer means for the beneficiary’s own creditors, and for income tax, are separate questions governed by other law. Discuss beneficiary designations with an attorney and a tax adviser.
Are annuity proceeds protected after withdrawal?
Under Goldenberg, money received from surrendering a contract before maturity falls within “proceeds.” Once those funds are deposited and commingled, tracing and separate account-garnishment rules come into play.
Does it matter where the annuity was purchased?
The statute keys on issuance to citizens or residents of the state. Contracts bought before a move to Florida raise residency questions that courts decide on the facts.
Are qualified and non-qualified annuities treated the same?
Not necessarily. A non-qualified contract depends on section 222.14. A contract held inside an IRA or employer plan may also draw on section 222.21, which has its own conditions and its own exception for domestic relations orders.
How does bankruptcy affect annuity protection?
A Florida debtor claims Florida exemptions in federal bankruptcy, but only if the 730-day domicile test in section 522(b)(3)(A) points to Florida. The trustee may also challenge prepetition transfers.
Disclosures
This article is general information about Florida law and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Whether any asset is protected from creditor claims depends entirely on individual facts and on timing, and the law changes. Consult a licensed Florida attorney about your own situation before acting, and consult a tax professional about tax consequences.
Annuity guarantees rest on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Annuities are not bank deposits, are not FDIC insured, and are not guaranteed by any federal government agency. Nothing here is a recommendation to purchase, keep, exchange, or surrender any insurance policy or annuity contract.
Lifeworth Insurance Agency is a trade name of Lifeworth Financial Group LLC, National Producer Number 21228343, licensed in Florida.
Related reading
- Florida Annuity Guaranty Association: Coverage Limits
- How Annuities Are Taxed: Annuity Tax Rules Explained
- 1035 Exchange Annuity: Tax-Free Transfer Rules
This article is part of Lifeworth’s annuities overview.