Bankruptcy exemptions in Florida: what you can keep

What property Florida law protects in bankruptcy, item by item.

Checked against official sources: October 25, 2026.

Short answer

In Florida you use state exemptions only (exemptions are the property the law lets you keep). Your home (homestead): unlimited dollar value.

Exemption system: State exemptions only
Car or other vehicle: $5,000 of your interest in a single motor vehicle (per debtor)
Wildcard (any property): $4,000 in any personal property, but only if you do not claim or receive the benefit of the Florida homestead exemption.
Amounts: Vehicle exemption $5,000 effective July 1, 2024.

Exemptions in Florida, item by item

Exemptions are the property the law lets you keep. You use the Florida list. The federal list is not available in Florida.

Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.20; Fla. Stat. § 222.201

What	Florida exemption
Home (homestead)	Unlimited dollar value. Area limit: up to one-half acre of contiguous land inside a city or town (municipality), or up to 160 acres of contiguous land outside a municipality, plus the home on it. The home must be owned by a natural person and be the residence of the owner or the owner's family. The homestead does not protect against property taxes and assessments, loans used to buy, improve or repair the home (for example, your mortgage), or bills for labor done on the property. There is no dollar cap to double for couples; the acreage limit is per homestead. Federal law can cap the protected equity if you acquired the home within 1,215 days before filing. Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(p); Fla. Const. art. X, § 4(a)(1)
Car or other vehicle	$5,000 of your interest in a single motor vehicle (per debtor) Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.25(1)
Household goods and clothing	$1,000 in any personal property (per person). Florida has no separate household-goods list; this $1,000 covers furniture, clothing and other belongings. Professionally prescribed health aids are fully exempt. Law: Fla. Const. art. X, § 4(a)(2); Fla. Stat. § 222.25(2)
Wildcard (any property)	$4,000 in any personal property, but only if you do not claim or receive the benefit of the Florida homestead exemption. Does not apply against child support or spousal support debts. Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.25(4)
Wages	If you are a head of family (you provide more than half the support of a child or other dependent), all of your disposable earnings up to $750 a week are exempt, and earnings above $750 a week are also exempt unless you signed a special written waiver. Others are protected to the federal garnishment limit. Exempt wages deposited in a bank stay exempt for 6 months if they can be traced. Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.11
Retirement accounts	Money in tax-exempt retirement plans and accounts (401(a), 403(a), 403(b), IRA, Roth IRA, 409, 414, 457(b), 501(a)) is exempt from all creditors, including inherited IRAs and IRAs received in a divorce. Not exempt from a QDRO alternate payee or a surviving spouse's elective share. Federal pension money received in the last 3 months is exempt if needed for support. Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.21
Public benefits	Through § 222.201 you can exempt the federal 522(d)(10) benefits: Social Security, unemployment compensation, local public assistance, veterans' benefits, disability or illness benefits, alimony/support reasonably necessary, and certain pension payments. Florida reemployment assistance (unemployment) benefits and workers' compensation are also exempt from creditors under state law (workers' comp: except child support or alimony). Disability income insurance benefits are exempt. Law: Fla. Stat. §§ 222.201, 443.051(2), 440.22, 222.18
Other exemptions	Cash surrender value of life insurance and the proceeds of annuity contracts are exempt. Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refunds, and traceable bank deposits of them, are exempt (not against child or spousal support). 529 college savings and Florida Prepaid plans, health savings accounts (HSA), Coverdell education accounts and ABLE accounts are exempt. Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.14; Fla. Stat. § 222.25(3); Fla. Stat. § 222.22

Federal limit on a newly bought home

If you use your state's exemptions, you can protect no more than $214,000 of home equity that you acquired in the 1,215 days (about 3 years and 4 months) before you filed. Equity moved from an earlier home in the same state, bought before that period, does not count. The cap does not apply to a family farmer's main home.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(p); 90 FR 8941

Amounts: Vehicle exemption $5,000 effective July 1, 2024. Constitutional $1,000 personal property and homestead limits unchanged since 1984/1998. Florida amounts are not indexed.

The Florida homestead exemption

Unlimited dollar value. Area limit: up to one-half acre of contiguous land inside a city or town (municipality), or up to 160 acres of contiguous land outside a municipality, plus the home on it.

The home must be owned by a natural person and be the residence of the owner or the owner's family. The homestead does not protect against property taxes and assessments, loans used to buy, improve or repair the home (for example, your mortgage), or bills for labor done on the property. There is no dollar cap to double for couples; the acreage limit is per homestead. Federal law can cap the protected equity if you acquired the home within 1,215 days before filing.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(p)

Law: Fla. Const. art. X, § 4(a)(1)

Federal limit on a newly bought home

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(p); 90 FR 8941

Retirement money

Money in tax-exempt retirement plans and accounts (401(a), 403(a), 403(b), IRA, Roth IRA, 409, 414, 457(b), 501(a)) is exempt from all creditors, including inherited IRAs and IRAs received in a divorce. Not exempt from a QDRO alternate payee or a surviving spouse's elective share. Federal pension money received in the last 3 months is exempt if needed for support.

Law: Fla. Stat. § 222.21

Retirement money in tax-exempt accounts is protected whichever set of exemptions you use (IRAs subject to the 522(n) cap).

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3)(C), 522(d)(12), 522(n)

New amounts in Florida

July 1, 2024: motor vehicle exemption raised from $1,000 to $5,000. Also in 2024, Fla. Stat. § 222.26 (Ch. 2024-183) added larger protections ($10,000 vehicle; $10,000 personal property if no homestead is claimed) that apply only in a lawsuit to collect a debt for medical services from a licensed hospital or similar facility.

Law: Ch. 2024-110, SB 158; ch. 395

If you moved in the last 2 years

You use the exemption law of the state where you lived (your domicile) for the full 730 days (2 years) before you filed. If you moved between states during those 2 years, you use the law of the state where you lived for the 180 days before that 2-year period, or where you lived the longest part of those 180 days.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3)(A)

If this rule leaves you with no exemptions at all (for example, the state's exemptions apply only to its residents and you no longer live there), you can use the federal exemptions instead.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3), flush language

In nearby states

Georgia: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): $50,000 of your interest in real or personal property that you or a dependent use as a residence, or in a burial plot.
South Carolina: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): $80,125 per debtor in your home (or a co-op or a burial plot for you or a dependent).
Alabama: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): $18,800 of home value per owner, on up to 160 acres.
Mississippi: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): $75,000 in equity in the land and buildings you own and live in, on up to 160 acres.

Steps to protect what you can in Florida

Write down your property
List each thing you own and what it is worth on Official Form 106A/B.
Check the exemption list
The table above shows the Florida amount for each kind of property.
List the exemptions you claim
Exemptions are claimed on Official Form 106C.
Get help
Ask for free help: Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Pro Se Clinic (Bankruptcy Bar Association for the N.D. Fla.) and N.D. Fla. Bankruptcy Bar Pro Bono Initiative – P.L.A.N. program.

Where to get free help in Florida

Questions about exemptions in Florida

Does Florida let me choose the federal exemptions?

No. Florida requires you to use the state exemptions.

How much home equity can I keep in Florida?

Unlimited dollar value. Area limit: up to one-half acre of contiguous land inside a city or town (municipality), or up to 160 acres of contiguous land outside a municipality, plus the home on it.

What is the vehicle exemption in Florida?

$5,000 of your interest in a single motor vehicle (per debtor)

Does Florida have a wildcard exemption?

$4,000 in any personal property, but only if you do not claim or receive the benefit of the Florida homestead exemption. Does not apply against child support or spousal support debts.

What personal property is protected in Florida?

$1,000 in any personal property (per person). Florida has no separate household-goods list; this $1,000 covers furniture, clothing and other belongings. Professionally prescribed health aids are fully exempt.

Are retirement accounts protected in bankruptcy in Florida?

Are my wages protected in Florida?

If you are a head of family (you provide more than half the support of a child or other dependent), all of your disposable earnings up to $750 a week are exempt, and earnings above $750 a week are also exempt unless you signed a special written waiver. Others are protected to the federal garnishment limit. Exempt wages deposited in a bank stay exempt for 6 months if they can be traced.