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Chapter 605 — Limited Liability Companies

Florida Statute 605.0503

“Charging order”

What it means

A judgment creditor of an LLC member or transferee may ask a court for a charging order against the debtor's transferable interest. The order is a lien on that interest and requires the company to pay the creditor a distribution that would otherwise go to the debtor. Applicable exemption laws still protect the interest (subsection (2)).

The charging order is generally the sole and exclusive remedy against the interest. In an LLC with more than one member, foreclosure on the interest or on rights to distributions is not available and may not be ordered (subsection (6)).

In an LLC with only one member, if the creditor shows the court that distributions under a charging order will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time, the court may order a foreclosure sale. The purchaser obtains the member's entire interest and becomes the member; the former member ceases to be one (subsections (4)-(5)).

Subsection (7) leaves in place a secured creditor's remedies, fraudulent transfer law, and equitable principles such as alter ego, equitable lien, and constructive trust.

— What it says
  • A charging order is a lien on the transferable interest and requires the company to pay the creditor the distribution otherwise owed to the debtor (§ 605.0503(1)).
  • A charging order is the sole and exclusive remedy, except as subsections (4) and (5) provide (§ 605.0503(3)).
  • In an LLC with more than one member, foreclosure is not available and may not be ordered (§ 605.0503(6)).
  • In a single-member LLC, the court may order a foreclosure sale if distributions will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time (§ 605.0503(4)).
  • The purchaser at a single-member foreclosure sale obtains the entire interest and becomes the member (§ 605.0503(5)(a)-(b)).
  • The section does not limit a consensual security interest, fraudulent transfer law, or equitable principles such as alter ego (§ 605.0503(7)).

Text of the statute (2026)

§ 605.0503(1)
(1) On application to a court of competent jurisdiction by a judgment creditor of a member or a transferee, the court may enter a charging order against the transferable interest of the member or transferee for payment of the unsatisfied amount of the judgment with interest. Except as provided in subsection (5), a charging order constitutes a lien upon a judgment debtor’s transferable interest and requires the limited liability company to pay over to the judgment creditor a distribution that would otherwise be paid to the judgment debtor.
§ 605.0503(2)
(2) This chapter does not deprive a member or transferee of the benefit of any exemption law applicable to the transferable interest of the member or transferee.
§ 605.0503(3)
(3) Except as provided in subsections (4) and (5), a charging order is the sole and exclusive remedy by which a judgment creditor of a member or member’s transferee may satisfy a judgment from the judgment debtor’s interest in a limited liability company or rights to distributions from the limited liability company.
§ 605.0503(4)
(4) In the case of a limited liability company that has only one member, if a judgment creditor of a member or member’s transferee establishes to the satisfaction of a court of competent jurisdiction that distributions under a charging order will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time, a charging order is not the sole and exclusive remedy by which the judgment creditor may satisfy the judgment against a judgment debtor who is the sole member of a limited liability company or the transferee of the sole member, and upon such showing, the court may order the sale of that interest in the limited liability company pursuant to a foreclosure sale. A judgment creditor may make a showing to the court that distributions under a charging order will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time at any time after the entry of the judgment and may do so at the same time that the judgment creditor applies for the entry of a charging order.
§ 605.0503(5)
(5) If a limited liability company has only one member and the court orders a foreclosure sale of a judgment debtor’s interest in the limited liability company or of a charging order lien against the sole member of the limited liability company pursuant to subsection (4): (a) The purchaser at the court-ordered foreclosure sale obtains the member’s entire limited liability company interest, not merely the rights of a transferee; (b) The purchaser at the sale becomes the member of the limited liability company; and (c) The person whose limited liability company interest is sold pursuant to the foreclosure sale or is the subject of the foreclosed charging order ceases to be a member of the limited liability company.
§ 605.0503(6)
(6) In the case of a limited liability company that has more than one member, the remedy of foreclosure on a judgment debtor’s interest in the limited liability company or against rights to distribution from the limited liability company is not available to a judgment creditor attempting to satisfy the judgment and may not be ordered by a court.
§ 605.0503(7)
(7) This section does not limit any of the following: (a) The rights of a creditor who has been granted a consensual security interest in a limited liability company interest to pursue the remedies available to the secured creditor under other law applicable to secured creditors. (b) The principles of law and equity which affect fraudulent transfers. (c) The availability of the equitable principles of alter ego, equitable lien, or constructive trust or other equitable principles not inconsistent with this section. (d) The continuing jurisdiction of the court to enforce its charging order in a manner consistent with this section.

Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 605.0503.

History. s. 2, ch. 2013-180.

— In a Florida probate

How it applies

Section 605.0503 sets the remedy available to a creditor holding a judgment against an LLC member or a member's transferee. In a company with more than one member, the creditor's remedy against the interest is the charging order, which reaches distributions the company makes. In a single-member company, the creditor may ask the court for a foreclosure sale after showing that distributions will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time. Subsection (7) leaves other law in place, including fraudulent transfer principles. The number of members therefore determines which remedies a court may order.

Where this shows up

Pages on this site where § 605.0503 does real work:

Questions people ask

Can a creditor take a member's LLC interest in Florida?
Not in an LLC with more than one member. Under Florida Statute 605.0503(3) and (6), the charging order is the sole and exclusive remedy and foreclosure is not available. In a single-member LLC, the court may order a foreclosure sale if the creditor shows distributions will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time (§ 605.0503(4)).
What is a charging order on an LLC interest?
A court order, on application by a judgment creditor of a member or transferee, that creates a lien on the debtor's transferable interest and requires the company to pay the creditor distributions otherwise payable to the debtor (§ 605.0503(1)).

Sources

Last checked: October 17, 2026

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 § 605.0503

Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.

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