Yes, but only in specific ways, and only if it’s set up and run correctly. A Florida LLC protects you in two directions: it keeps the business’s debts and lawsuits away from your personal assets, and it limits what your personal creditors can take from the business. Neither protection is absolute. An LLC won’t shield you from your own negligence, a loan you personally guaranteed, or assets you moved after a problem was already on the horizon. And in Florida, a single-member LLC is noticeably weaker than one with two or more members. Knowing where those lines fall is the difference between an LLC that protects you and one that only looks like it does.
The Two Protections an LLC Gives You
1. Inside Protection: The LLC’s Debts Stay With the LLC
Under Florida law, a member or manager isn’t personally liable for the LLC’s debts or obligations just because they own or run it (Fla. Stat. § 605.0304). If the LLC that owns your rental is sued after a guest is hurt on the property, or the business defaults on a vendor contract, the claim is generally limited to what the LLC owns. Your personal bank accounts, your home, and your other investments stay out of it.
This is why rental and commercial properties are often held in separate LLCs. One property, one LLC: a lawsuit tied to one building stays with that building, instead of putting every property you own at risk.
2. Outside Protection: What Your Personal Creditors Can Reach
Now flip it. You’re sued personally, say after a car accident, and the judgment is bigger than your insurance. The creditor wants what’s inside your LLC. How much protection you have here depends on how many members the LLC has.
If your LLC has two or more members: a judgment creditor’s sole and exclusive remedy against your membership interest is a charging order (Fla. Stat. § 605.0503). A charging order is a lien on your share of distributions: if the LLC pays you, the creditor gets paid instead. The creditor can’t take over the company, vote your interest, or force a sale of the LLC’s property, and Florida law bars foreclosure on a multi-member LLC interest entirely.
If you’re the only member: the charging order is still the starting point, but there’s an exception. If the creditor shows the court that distributions under a charging order won’t pay off the judgment within a reasonable time, the court can order your entire membership interest sold. The buyer becomes the new owner of the LLC, and you’re out. Florida added this rule in 2011, after the Florida Supreme Court held in Olmstead v. FTC (2010) that a single-member LLC interest could be turned over to a creditor. It’s the main reason a single-member LLC, on its own, is a weaker asset protection tool in Florida than many owners assume.
Where an LLC Won’t Protect You
Your Own Actions
An LLC protects you from the company’s liabilities, not your own. If you personally cause harm, such as causing an accident while driving for the business or doing a careless repair at your rental yourself, the injured person can come after you directly, not just the LLC. Insurance is still your first line of defense.
Debts You Personally Guarantee
Banks, commercial landlords, and some vendors require owners of small LLCs to sign a personal guarantee. Once you sign, that debt is yours too, and the LLC no longer stands between the lender and your personal assets.
When the LLC Isn’t Treated as Separate
A court can set the LLC aside, called “piercing the veil,” and hold the owner personally liable. Florida sets a high bar for this: generally, the owner must have used the LLC as a mere instrumentality or alter ego, for an improper purpose such as misleading creditors, and that conduct must have caused the loss. Florida’s LLC statute says skipping formalities alone isn’t grounds for personal liability. But mixing money, like paying personal bills from the LLC account or depositing rent into your personal account, makes it much harder to argue the two are separate.
Keeping the LLC separate is mostly basic housekeeping: a separate bank account, contracts and leases signed in the LLC’s name, and an annual report filed on time with the Florida Division of Corporations. For 2026, the LLC annual report fee is $138.75, due May 1, with a $400 late fee after that. An LLC that still hasn’t filed by the third Friday of September is administratively dissolved (Sunbiz).
Assets Moved After a Problem Appears
Florida’s fraudulent transfer law lets creditors undo transfers made to hinder, delay, or defraud them. Moving property into an LLC after an accident, a demand letter, or a lawsuit is exactly what that law targets. A creditor generally has four years after the transfer to challenge it, or one year after the transfer reasonably could have been discovered, if that’s later (Fla. Stat. § 726.110). LLC planning works when it’s done before there’s a claim, not after.
Your Home
Don’t put your homestead in an LLC. Florida’s homestead protections are tied to property owned by a person, and an LLC isn’t one. Deeding your primary residence to an LLC can give up the creditor protection Florida already gives your home for free, along with your homestead tax exemption and Save Our Homes cap. Our post on what Florida’s homestead law actually protects covers those protections in full.
How This Plays Out in Practice
A rental owner with three properties in one LLC: a tenant’s guest is seriously injured at one property, and the claim is bigger than the insurance policy. Because all three properties sit in the same LLC, all three are exposed to that one claim. Holding each property in its own LLC would have kept the other two out of it.
A single-member LLC owner with a personal judgment: the owner causes a car accident, and the judgment is bigger than the auto policy. The owner’s single-member LLC holds a paid-off rental that rarely makes distributions. The creditor shows the court that a charging order won’t pay the judgment within a reasonable time, and the court orders the membership interest sold. The rental effectively goes with it.
A married couple who are both members of their LLC: a judgment against one spouse personally is generally limited to a charging order, because the LLC has two members. That’s stronger than the single-member setup. But adding a member only to get this protection, without that person having a real role or stake, can invite a challenge, so it’s worth structuring with care.
An owner who moves assets after the fact: after a demand letter arrives, the owner deeds an investment property into a new LLC. That transfer can be undone under Florida’s fraudulent transfer law, and the LLC protects nothing.
When to Speak with an Estate Planning Attorney
An LLC is one piece of a plan, not the whole plan. It also doesn’t avoid probate by itself: if you own your membership interest in your own name, that interest can still go through probate when you die. Assigning it to your revocable trust, and making sure your operating agreement says what happens if you die or can’t manage the company, keeps the business and the property moving to the people you choose.
If you own rental property, run a business, or set up an LLC years ago and haven’t looked at it since, it’s worth a conversation with an estate planning attorney. We can review how the LLC is owned and run, and how it fits with your trust, your homestead, and your insurance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a single-member LLC still worth it in Florida? Often, yes. It still gives you inside protection, which keeps the business’s or property’s liabilities away from your personal assets. What it gives you less of is outside protection, because a personal creditor can ask the court to foreclose on your membership interest.
Should I put my rental property in an LLC? For many owners, yes, ideally one LLC per property. Before you deed it over, check whether your mortgage has a due-on-sale clause and whether the transfer could reset the property’s assessed value for taxes. Move the insurance into the LLC’s name too.
Can I put my house in an LLC? Generally, you shouldn’t. Your primary residence already has strong creditor protection under Florida’s homestead law, and transferring it to an LLC can cost you that protection, your homestead tax exemption, and your Save Our Homes cap.
Does an LLC avoid probate? Not on its own. The LLC keeps existing when you die, but your ownership interest in it is an asset of yours. If it’s in your own name, it can pass through probate. Holding it in a revocable trust avoids that.
Would a Delaware or Wyoming LLC protect me better? Not necessarily. If you live in Florida and the LLC owns property or does business here, a Florida court may apply Florida law, and the LLC generally has to register in Florida anyway. A local structure, set up and maintained correctly, usually does more for you than an out-of-state filing.
If I have an LLC, do I still need insurance? Yes. An LLC limits what a claim can reach, while insurance pays the claim. Liability coverage on the property, an umbrella policy, and an LLC work best together.
About This Article
Written by Samantha Fitzgerald, Esq., Founder & Managing Attorney at SJF Law Group.
Learn more about our estate planning services and asset protection trusts, or read our related posts on asset protection strategies in Florida and what Florida’s homestead law actually protects.
