McMillan Law's office is in Tampa. I represent people in Sarasota and everywhere else in Florida, and the free case review happens by phone or online, so you don't have to drive anywhere to get started.
Last reviewed October 8, 2026 by Jackson McMillan, Florida attorney
A Sarasota debt lawsuit or a frozen account, after you've retired
A Sarasota debt lawsuit can surface in retirement as a call from the bank: a garnishment order arrived, and your account is on hold. Or a summons is waiting at your condo in downtown Sarasota when you get back from a summer up north. The debt behind it may be years old, like a card that went unpaid during an illness, or an account your spouse handled before passing away.
This is a time to move quickly. Federal law shields Social Security, Florida shields your home from these debts, and the time limit for suing may already have run out. But several of those protections depend on paperwork filed by a deadline, and a debt lawsuit has its own: generally 20 days after you're served in county court, or the pretrial conference date on the summons in small claims.
Can they take my Social Security?
Not to pay a credit card, a personal loan, or a medical bill. Federal law protects Social Security from garnishment and other legal process (42 U.S.C. § 407), and VA benefits are protected both before and after you receive them. Florida also protects retirement accounts, such as IRAs, 401(k)s, and pensions.
Direct deposit adds a second layer. When a bank receives a garnishment order, it has to check whether Social Security, SSI, VA, federal civil service retirement, or Railroad Retirement benefits were deposited electronically in the previous two months. If they were, it must leave you full access to the smaller of those two months of deposits or your balance. Nothing has to be filed for that amount, and the bank can't take its garnishment fee out of it.
The automatic shield has gaps. It doesn't cover benefits paid by paper check, state benefits, money beyond two months' worth, or benefits you moved into another account. Those funds may still be protected, but a sworn claim of exemption has to be filed within 20 days after you receive the garnishment notice.
Upload the garnishment notice and your last two bank statements to my free case review, so I can see which deposits the bank should have protected and what still has to be claimed within 20 days.
Old debts and Florida's time limits
A card from a decade ago may be past the point where anyone can bring a debt lawsuit over it. In Florida, the general limits are 5 years when there's a written agreement, 4 when there isn't, and 3 for a hospital bill, with the hospital clock starting when the bill went to collection. A debt collector, a category that covers most companies buying old accounts, breaks federal law if it sues or threatens to sue on a debt that's already past the limit.
The limit doesn't enforce itself. It has to be raised in a response filed in the lawsuit. A payment on a written agreement can extend the clock, and so can a signed, written promise to pay. That's why a collector's invitation to "just send something small" deserves a careful look before any check goes in the mail.
When a collector comes after a late spouse's bills
After a husband or wife dies, collection letters may keep coming, and some may be addressed to the survivor. Under Florida law, a surviving spouse generally doesn't pay a late spouse's debts from personal funds, and the estate covers what it can. You can owe if your own name was on the account as a co-signer or joint holder. Simply having a card on your spouse's account as an authorized user generally isn't enough.
Bills from a spouse's final illness follow the same logic, since Florida no longer holds one spouse liable for the other's medical care simply because they were married. Federal collection law does let a collection agency talk to a spouse about a debt, but being contacted isn't the same as owing. If a late spouse's accounts are also showing up on your own credit file, my Sarasota guide to credit report errors after a spouse's death covers that side.
Debt cases I take from Sarasota County and the Suncoast
McMillan Law's office is in Tampa. I represent people in Sarasota and across the Suncoast, from Siesta Key and Lido Key to Venice and Bradenton, and seasonal residents can send me a garnishment notice from wherever they are spending the year. Sarasota County belongs to the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, with Manatee and DeSoto counties.
Bills from the months after Hurricane Milton's October 2024 landfall near Siesta Key, for storm repairs or for medical care, can still be turning up with collectors. If a storm-era hospital bill is part of your case, Florida's shorter 3-year limit for hospital debt may apply. If money left your account through fraud instead of a garnishment, see my guide to bank account takeovers in Sarasota. Renting in Sarasota County instead of owning? Read about getting a Sarasota deposit back.
What you can win or save
- Your home. Florida's constitution keeps a creditor holding a card or medical judgment from forcing the sale of the home you live in, and Florida's homestead protection has no dollar cap. Debts tied to the home itself are different: the mortgage, property taxes, and work done on the house.
- Your income. Social Security, VA benefits, and retirement accounts stay protected, and the bank's two-month shield works without any filing.
- Belongings and a car. Up to $5,000 of equity in one vehicle and $1,000 in personal property are exempt. If you don't claim homestead protection, for example because you rent, another $4,000 is protected.
- A lawsuit that goes your way. An expired debt, a debt that was only your spouse's, or a balance the company can't prove may mean you owe nothing on it. If the agreement allowed the lender to recover its attorney's fees, Florida law lets you seek yours when you win. If you lose, the company may add its fees.
- Claims against a collector. Falsely threatening to seize your Social Security, calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., or harassing you or your family can violate Florida and federal collection law, with up to $1,000 in statutory damages under each where it applies. See debt collector harassment.
The case review is free. Fees for defending a debt lawsuit depend on the case. I explain your options, and every term is in writing before you sign anything.
For the full list of what Florida protects, see my page on judgments and garnishment. If you've just been served, start with what to do when you're sued for a debt.
Steps for Sarasota retirees this week
- Find the garnishment notice or summons and write down the day it reached you.
- Print two months of bank statements showing your benefit deposits.
- Leave benefit money where it landed. Moving it to another account can strip the automatic protection.
- Don't pay anything on an old debt, or sign a promise to pay, until you know whether the time limit has run.
- If the debt was a late spouse's, gather the death certificate and anything showing whose name the account was in.
- Send the court papers to me. Upload the summons or garnishment notice with your statements, and I'll tell you what's protected and what has to be filed by when.