Can Creditor Hold Debtor In Civil Contempt For Failing To Transport And Assemble In Florida The Debtor's Out-Of -State Assets?
I am frequently asked whether a creditor can get a court to hold a debtor in contempt of court for not paying a civil judgment. This past week one of my clients explained that he had recently moved to Florida but maintained a car, bank accounts, and collectibles in his former residence. He asked me whether his creditors could obtain a Florida court order commanding him to transport the car and collectibles to Florida and move his money to a Florida bank, and if they could, whether he could be held in contempt and put in jail if he did not comply with the court order.
I am not been involved in any case where a court has threatened to hold my client in contempt if he did not move his own assets from another state into Florida where a creditor could more conveniently levy upon the assets. Essentially, a court would be ordering a debtor to collect his own assets to pay his creditor and threatening to put the debtor in jail for non-compliance.
Courts can order the conveyance of property to remedy a fraudulent transfer or conversion, and courts can hold people in contempt for failure to pay alimony and domestic support obligations. However, Article I, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution provides that no person shall be imprisoned for debt, except fraud. I think a debtor could assert a constitutional law defense to possible contempt sanctions with incarceration for the debtor's failure to assemble property for the benefit of his a civil judgment creditor.
