Florida Asset Search

Every link in this guide was opened and verified on Sep. 17, 2026.

Florida research should separate county real-estate records, Sunbiz company records and judgment-lien records. A boat or business can lead to additional systems. Finding any of these assets does not establish that protected homestead property, earnings or bank funds are available to an ordinary creditor.

An asset appearing in a public record is not automatically available to pay a judgment. This guide separates the public-record search from private financial information and the Florida collection process.

Follow the documents, not just the name

Trace a parcel to its current deed owner, then review Sunbiz filings and related recorded documents. A manager's name is not a full ownership schedule. For a vessel, determine whether state title records or Coast Guard documentation control the title research.

Florida's chapter 77 governs garnishment. Begin with the enforceable judgment and the proper motion and writ for the court case. Name the actual financial institution or other holder of the debtor's property; a bank clue is not enough unless it can be turned into a correctly served court process.

The statute includes specific notices to an individual debtor, including the claim-of-exemption and hearing procedure. Sections 77.041 and 77.055 address important notice steps. Use the current statutory packet and deadlines rather than treating bank service as the end of the creditor's responsibilities.

Review the bank's answer and any exemption or competing-interest claim. A hold on money and a judgment or order authorizing payment are separate stages. Florida's consumer guidance discusses protections that can materially affect collection, including homestead and certain head-of-family earnings protections.

Do not infer a collectible balance from a transfer record or from the apparent value of the debtor's residence. Identify the money's legal status and the current debt balance before spending on repeated garnishments.

The applicable official starting points are Florida Legislature: chapter 77, garnishment, The Florida Bar: debtor and collection protections. Use the current issuer's forms and instructions for the particular case.

County recording of a judgment affecting real estate is different from the state's judgment-lien system for certain personal property. Property type and location determine which records to search and which enforcement step to consider. A UCC claim, vehicle loan or vessel mortgage can change the value available even when ownership is confirmed.

The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 estimates report an owner-occupied housing rate of 67.6% and a median value of owner-occupied housing of $359,000 in Florida. The rate refers to occupied housing units, not a percentage of people. The value is not an estimate of equity available to creditors. Census QuickFacts: Florida.

Real-estate records, business ownership clues, vessels and business collateral are useful branches when supported by the subject's history. Their usefulness does not make them a verified ranking of Florida's most popular asset searches.

The complete Florida garnishment workflow includes debtor notices and the response to the garnishee's answer. A missing follow-up should not be treated as harmless merely because the bank initially held funds.

• Florida Legislature: chapter 77, garnishment
• The Florida Bar: debtor and collection protections

Compare other states and asset types.

A Florida dissolution of marriage is commenced under section 61.043 by filing a petition in the circuit court, in the family division where the circuit has one, and the Clerk of the Circuit Court of that county keeps the file. Rule 2.420(a) of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration provides that the public shall have access to all records of the judicial branch except as the rule provides, and dissolution files and financial affidavits are not among the records the rule makes confidential automatically. A Florida divorce file is therefore open unless a party obtains an order on a Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records.

The sworn money form

Florida's form is the Family Law Financial Affidavit, Form 12.902(b) in the short form for gross annual income under $50,000 and 12.902(c) in the long form, required by Rule 12.285 of the Family Law Rules of Procedure, the mandatory disclosure rule, in proceedings for financial relief, unless the parties file a notice of joint verified waiver of filing financial affidavits, in which case they exchange sworn affidavits without filing them. It is sworn and reports the party's income, assets and liabilities, and the form's own instructions say it must be filed with the clerk and served on the other party. Because it is not on the automatically confidential list, it is a public court record once filed, while Social Security, bank account and credit card numbers in it are kept confidential under Rule 2.420(d)(1)(B), and under Family Law Rule 12.400(d) the court may conditionally seal the financial information required by Rule 12.285 if access to it would likely subject a party to abuse, such as use by third parties for purposes unrelated to governmental or judicial accountability, in which case it is disclosed only to a person who shows a need for it on those grounds. The tax returns, pay stubs and account statements that mandatory disclosure requires are served on the other party. The final judgment of dissolution, any marital settlement agreement filed or incorporated, equitable distribution orders, qualified domestic relations orders and filed exhibits are public on the same terms.

Finding and reading the file

Florida has no single statewide case search; each county Clerk of the Circuit Court runs its own online docket, and what a member of the public can view remotely in a family case is set by the Supreme Court's standards for access to electronic court records and its access security matrix, which treat family cases differently from ordinary civil cases, so the general public without a registration agreement cannot view family case documents online, while registered users and the public in the clerk's office can view the non-confidential family file. Under section 28.24 the clerk charges $1 per page for copies of any instrument in the public records and $2 to certify a copy of a court record. Sealing follows Rule 2.420(c)(9) and (e): a written Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records, and an order making records confidential only to the extent necessary to serve one of the rule's listed interests, such as preventing a serious and imminent threat to the fair, impartial and orderly administration of justice, protecting trade secrets, avoiding substantial injury to innocent third parties or avoiding substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a common law or privacy right not generally inherent in the type of proceeding, with the degree, duration and manner of confidentiality no broader than necessary and no less restrictive measure available.

Bankruptcy files for Florida residents

Florida has three bankruptcy districts: the Northern District at flnb.uscourts.gov, with clerk's offices in Tallahassee and Pensacola, a court proceedings only location in Gainesville and a Panama City courthouse closed indefinitely since hurricane damage in 2018, the Middle District at flmb.uscourts.gov and the Southern District at flsb.uscourts.gov. Their schedules name deposit accounts and the employer and are public under 11 U.S.C. 107.

After the file: proceedings supplementary and the Fact Information Sheet

Under section 56.29, a judgment creditor holding an unsatisfied judgment files a motion and an affidavit so stating and is entitled to proceedings supplementary to execution, in which the court issues a Notice to Appear requiring a person holding the debtor's property to show cause why it should not be applied to the judgment. Rule 1.560 of the Rules of Civil Procedure adds discovery in aid of execution from any person, including the judgment debtor, and under Rule 1.560(b) the court, at the judgment creditor's request, must order the judgment debtor to complete the Fact Information Sheet, Form 1.977, with all required attachments, within 45 days and serve it on the creditor, under oath, with failure to obey punishable as contempt. The Florida judgments and liens page covers the procedure.

• Fla. Stat. 61.043. What it's useful for: where a dissolution is filed.
• Rule 2.420, public access to and protection of judicial branch records. What it's useful for: the open rule, the automatic exceptions and the confidentiality motion, in the January 1, 2022 text; later amendments added items to the automatic list and left these provisions unchanged.
• Fla. Stat. 28.24. What it's useful for: the clerk's copy and certification charges.
• Fla. Stat. 56.29. What it's useful for: proceedings supplementary to execution.

The national guide covers what stays private, the collection tools for every asset class and what a search and levy can cost: Asset Search, what public records reveal and what stays private.