Florida Statute 222.13
“Life insurance policies; disposition of proceeds”
What it means
When a person residing in Florida dies leaving life insurance, the insurance goes exclusively to the person designated in the policy. The proceeds are exempt from the claims of the insured's creditors, unless the policy or a valid assignment of it provides otherwise.
There is an exception. If the insurance is payable, by designation or otherwise, to the insured, the insured's estate, or the insured's executors, administrators, or assigns, the proceeds become part of the estate for all purposes. The personal representative administers them under the probate laws like other assets of the estate.
Paying as the statute directs discharges the insurer from further liability under the policy. The insurer is not responsible for, and does not have to see to, how the payment is applied.
- Insurance proceeds go exclusively to the person designated in the policy and are exempt from the insured's creditors. (§ 222.13(1))
- The policy or a valid assignment of it can provide otherwise, so the creditor exemption is a default rule. (§ 222.13(1))
- Insurance payable to the insured, the insured's estate, or its executors, administrators, or assigns becomes part of the estate and is administered by the personal representative. (§ 222.13(1))
- Payment as directed discharges the insurer from further liability under the policy. (§ 222.13(2))
Text of the statute (2026)
(1) Whenever any person residing in the state shall die leaving insurance on his or her life, the said insurance shall inure exclusively to the benefit of the person for whose use and benefit such insurance is designated in the policy, and the proceeds thereof shall be exempt from the claims of creditors of the insured unless the insurance policy or a valid assignment thereof provides otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever the insurance, by designation or otherwise, is payable to the insured or to the insured’s estate or to his or her executors, administrators, or assigns, the insurance proceeds shall become a part of the insured’s estate for all purposes and shall be administered by the personal representative of the estate of the insured in accordance with the probate laws of the state in like manner as other assets of the insured’s estate.
(2) Payments as herein directed shall, in every such case, discharge the insurer from any further liability under the policy, and the insurer shall in no event be responsible for, or be required to see to, the application of such payments.
Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 222.13.
History. s. 1, ch. 1864, 1872; RS 2347; s. 1, ch. 4555, 1897; s. 1, ch. 5165, 1903; GS 3154; RGS 4977; CGL 7065; s. 1, ch. 29861, 1955; s. 1, ch. 59-333; s. 1, ch. 63-230; s. 1, ch. 70-376; s. 51, ch. 71-355; s. 1202, ch. 95-147.
How it applies
Section 222.13 turns on who is designated in the policy to receive the proceeds. Proceeds go to the designated person and are exempt from the insured's creditors unless the policy or a valid assignment provides otherwise. If the insurance is payable to the insured, the insured's estate, or the insured's executors, administrators, or assigns, the proceeds become part of the estate for all purposes and are administered by the personal representative like other estate assets. The statute addresses the insured's creditors and the estate; it does not address the beneficiary's own creditors.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 222.13 does real work:
- What to do in the first 72 hours after a death in Florida
- Do I need probate in Florida? Which assets and estates skip it
- Will vs. trust in Florida: what each does, how each is signed and what each avoids
- Florida snowbird estate planning: domicile, homestead, other-state taxes and ancillary probate
- Disinheriting a child in Florida: what the law allows, protected homestead and how to draft it
- Funding a revocable trust in Florida: deeds, accounts, retirement plans, insurance and what to leave out
- Cryonics contracts
- Sudden wealth collapse
Related sections
Questions people ask
Sources
- Florida Statutes s. 222.13 (2026), Florida Senate (“the proceeds thereof shall be exempt from the claims of creditors of the insured unless the insurance policy or a valid assignment thereof provides otherwise.”)
Last checked: October 17, 2026
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