Chapter 222 — Property Exempt from Creditors

Florida Statute 222.21

“Exemption of pension money and certain tax-exempt funds or accounts from legal processes”

What it means

Retirement money is close to untouchable in Florida. §222.21 exempts any fund or account maintained under the tax-qualified plans of I.R.C. ss. 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, 409, 414, 457(b), or 501(a) — 401(k)s, pensions, IRAs, Roth IRAs — from claims of creditors of the owner, participant, or beneficiary.

The exemption survives death: inherited accounts stay exempt in the beneficiary's hands. Two carve-outs: an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, and a surviving spouse's order determining the elective share under chapter 732. Separately, United States pension money received within 3 months before process issues is exempt where needed to support the debtor's family.

— What it says

Funds under I.R.C. 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, 409, 414, 457(b), or 501(a) are exempt from creditor claims.
Inherited IRAs and plan accounts keep the exemption after the owner's death — the statute applies it retroactively to all inherited IRAs.
Not exempt against an alternate payee under a QDRO — though that payee's interest is then exempt from the payee's own creditors, except the Department of Revenue.
Not exempt against a surviving spouse's order determining the elective share under chapter 732.
U.S. pension money received within 3 months before execution, attachment, or garnishment is exempt when needed for family support.

— In a real probate

How it plays out

§222.21 is why an estate can look insolvent on paper while the family remains provided for. Retirement accounts with living beneficiaries pass outside probate and outside the reach of the estate's creditors, and the statute's retroactive fix for inherited IRAs keeps the protection attached as the money moves down a generation. Much of our work is sequencing: identify what §222.21 covers before anyone volunteers protected funds to pay claims the law never sent to the family.

Where this shows up

Pages on this site where § 222.21 does real work:

Related sections

§ 222.14Exemption of cash surrender value of life insurance policies and annuity contracts from legal process § 222.13Life insurance policies; disposition of proceeds § 222.25Other individual property of natural persons exempt from legal process § 732.201Right to elective share § 222.29No exemption for fraudulent transfers

Questions people ask

Are IRAs protected from creditors in Florida?

Yes. Florida Statute 222.21 exempts IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and other tax-qualified accounts from creditor claims, and the exemption continues for inherited accounts. The main exceptions are a QDRO alternate payee and a surviving spouse's elective-share order.

Do creditors of an estate get the decedent's 401(k)?

Generally no. With a living designated beneficiary, the account passes outside probate, and Florida Statute 222.21 exempts it — inherited form included — from creditor claims, subject to the statute's QDRO and elective-share carve-outs.

The official text

This page is a plain-English summary, verified against the 2026 Florida Statutes — it is not the statute, and it isn't legal advice for your situation.

Read § 222.21