{"id":4601,"date":"2026-10-27T05:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lawayala.com\/resources\/international-trade-litigation-florida\/pre-judgment-attachment-foreign-debtor-florida\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T01:24:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T01:24:55","slug":"pre-judgment-attachment-foreign-debtor-florida","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lawayala.com\/resources\/international-trade-litigation-florida\/pre-judgment-attachment-foreign-debtor-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-Judgment Attachment Against a Foreign Debtor in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Business Litigation | Tampa Bay Area<\/p>

Pre-Judgment Attachment Against a Foreign Debtor in Florida<\/h1>

How Florida creditors may seek court protection over a debtor's assets before judgment, and how Ayala Law PA helps businesses assess their options.<\/p>

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By Eduardo A. Maura \u00b7 Published October 27, 2026<\/p>\n\n

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Pre-judgment attachment is a court order that holds a debtor’s property while a lawsuit is still pending. When the debtor is a foreign company or an out-of-state party, the first question is whether a Florida court can reach its property at all. The answer depends on the facts: the debtor’s Florida contacts, where its money sits, and how it has moved assets.<\/p>\n

What Pre-Judgment Attachment Means in Florida<\/h2>\n

Pre-judgment attachment keeps assets in place so a creditor has something to collect if it later wins the case. Creditors who suspect a debtor is moving assets away may want to contact Ayala Law PA to talk through their options. Under \u00a7 726.108<\/a>, a creditor in a fraudulent-transfer action may seek an attachment or other provisional remedy against the asset transferred. The creditor may also ask for an injunction against further transfers or for a receiver. Those remedies are subject to the statute’s limits and to the rules of civil procedure.<\/p>\n

Ayala Law PA focuses on business litigation, including commercial debts, contract disputes, and international trade disputes. Eduardo A. Maura is the lawyer responsible for this page.<\/p>\n\n

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If a buyer or customer outside Florida owes your business money and you fear the funds will move, we can talk through your options with you. Talk it through with our team — we can walk you through how a situation like yours is usually handled and what your options are.<\/p>

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When a Florida Court Can Reach a Foreign Debtor<\/h2>\n

A Florida court can hear a claim against a non-resident when the defendant has enough contact with Florida. The state’s long-arm statute, \u00a7 48.193<\/a>, lists those contacts. A non-resident who runs a business in Florida, commits a tortious act here, or fails to perform contract acts that must be done in Florida is covered for claims arising from those acts.<\/p>\n

The statute also reaches a defendant with “substantial and not isolated” activity in Florida, even when the claim does not come from that activity. Whether a particular debtor fits turns on its Florida contacts. Consider a Tampa-area supplier owed by an out-of-state buyer. If the contract required the buyer to make payments into a Florida account, a failure to make those payments may fall within \u00a7 48.193<\/a>‘s provision on breaching a contract by failing to perform an act required to be performed in Florida.<\/p>\n

Fraudulent Transfer Grounds That Matter Early<\/h2>\n

A transfer can be fraudulent when the debtor moved assets to hinder a creditor. A transfer can also be fraudulent when the debtor gave up assets without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange, and the debtor was engaged or about to engage in a business for which its remaining assets were unreasonably small, or the debtor intended to incur, or reasonably should have believed it would incur, debts beyond its ability to pay as they became due. \u00a7 726.105<\/a> covers actual intent and the unfair-value grounds. \u00a7 726.106<\/a> covers creditors whose claims arose before the transfer, when the debtor made the transfer without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange and was insolvent at that time or became insolvent as a result. It also covers transfers to an insider for an antecedent debt, but only if the debtor was insolvent at that time and the insider had reasonable cause to believe that the debtor was insolvent.<\/p>\n

For actual intent, a court may weigh several factors listed in \u00a7 726.105(2)<\/a>. Among them:<\/p>\n