Florida Statute 55.502 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title VI
CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

Chapter 55
JUDGMENTS

View Entire Chapter

F.S. 55.502

55.502 Construction of act.—

(1) As used in ss. 55.501-55.509, the term “foreign judgment” means a judgment, decree, or order of a court of any other state, territory or commonwealth of the United States, or of the United States if such judgment, decree, or order is entitled to full faith and credit in this state.

(2) This act shall not be construed to impair the right of a judgment creditor to bring an action to enforce his or her judgment instead of proceeding under this act.

(3) This act shall be interpreted and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this act among states enacting it.

(4) Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to alter, modify, or extend the limitation period applicable for the enforcement of foreign judgments.

History.—ss. 2, 8, ch. 84-5; s. 16, ch. 94-348; s. 1358, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 2013-164.

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Amendments to 55.502

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 55.502

Total Results: 25

Burshan v. NATIONAL UNION FIRE INS. COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH, PA.

805 So. 2d 835, 2001 WL 883234

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 8, 2001 | Docket: 2449499

Cited 24 times | Published

Wightman, 31 Fla. 10, 12 So. 526, 530 (1893). Section 55.502(4) provides that nothing in the Act "shall

Nadd v. Le Credit Lyonnais, SA

804 So. 2d 1226, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 769, 2001 Fla. LEXIS 2274, 2001 WL 1472623

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Nov 21, 2001 | Docket: 1699582

Cited 18 times | Published

as a judgment of this state. Additionally, section 55.502(4) states specifically, "Nothing contained

Michael v. Valley Trucking Co., Inc.

832 So. 2d 213, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 17762, 2002 WL 31696808

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 4, 2002 | Docket: 1700102

Cited 10 times | Published

judgments of the United States District Courts. § 55.502, Fla. Stat. (2000). Therefore, until 1994, creditors

New York State Dept. of Taxation v. Patafio

829 So. 2d 314, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 15566, 2002 WL 31396460

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 25, 2002 | Docket: 1733619

Cited 9 times | Published

applicable for the enforcement of a foreign judgment. § 55.502(1) and (4). It remains to be seen whether, pursuant

Le Credit Lyonnais, SA v. Nadd

741 So. 2d 1165, 1999 WL 729066

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 10, 1999 | Docket: 453069

Cited 9 times | Published

Florida's UEFJA also expressly provides in section 55.502(4) that "nothing contained in this act shall

Muka v. Horizon Financial Corp.

766 So. 2d 239, 2000 WL 121792

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 2, 2000 | Docket: 1697810

Cited 7 times | Published

noted, FUOMRA lacks a counterpart to FEFJA section 55.502(4) which provides that: "Nothing contained

Policemen's & Firefighters' Retirement Fund v. Tranter (In Re Tranter)

245 B.R. 419, 13 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 134, 2000 Bankr. LEXIS 165

United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. | Filed: Feb 15, 2000 | Docket: 1709345

Cited 6 times | Published

legislature added a non-uniform provision in Section 55.502(4): "Nothing contained in this act shall be

NEW YORK STATE COM'R OF TAXATION v. Friona

902 So. 2d 864, 2005 WL 1109580

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 11, 2005 | Docket: 1674999

Cited 5 times | Published

judgment instead of proceeding under [FEFJA]." § 55.502(2), Fla. Stat. (2002) (emphasis added). Section

In Re Goodwin

325 B.R. 328, 18 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 243, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 1022, 2005 WL 1330391

United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida | Filed: Apr 20, 2005 | Docket: 1378276

Cited 5 times | Published

[5] stating: What the Legislature intended by section 55.502(4) is not clear. The drafters of that provision

Fazzini v. Davis

98 So. 3d 98, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 11386, 2012 WL 2865488

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 13, 2012 | Docket: 60312870

Cited 4 times | Published

interwoven and one cannot be had without the other. Section 55.502, Florida Statutes (2008), defines “foreign

Lorenzo v. Skowronski-Thompson

738 So. 2d 967, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 8292, 1999 WL 414220

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 23, 1999 | Docket: 1752250

Cited 4 times | Published

55.501-55.509, Florida Statutes (1995).[3] Section 55.502(1) defines the term foreign judgment as any

SCG Travel, Inc. v. Westminster Financial Corp.

583 So. 2d 723, 1991 WL 117031

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 3, 1991 | Docket: 1284071

Cited 4 times | Published

in purpose. This is made manifest to us by section 55.502(3), Florida Statutes (1989), which says: "This

Haskin v. Haskin

781 So. 2d 431, 2001 WL 167002

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 21, 2001 | Docket: 1293848

Cited 3 times | Published

common law action to enforce a final judgment; section 55.502(2) provides that the Act "shall not be construed

Pratt v. Equity Bank, N.A.

124 So. 3d 313, 2013 WL 5379124, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 15290

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 27, 2013 | Docket: 60235446

Cited 2 times | Published

judgment instead of proceeding under [the FEFJA].” § 55.502(2), Fla. Stat. (2008). In order to render a foreign

Expedia, Inc. v. McKenney's, Inc.

611 So. 2d 98, 1992 WL 387427

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 31, 1992 | Docket: 1678962

Cited 2 times | Published

interpreted in accordance with the Uniform Act. See § 55.502(3), Fla. Stat. (1991). We find persuasive, however

Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Panelfab Intern. Corp.

501 So. 2d 167, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 375, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 6472

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 27, 1987 | Docket: 537992

Cited 2 times | Published

`[f]oreign [j]udgment' contained in Florida Statute Section 55.502(1) does not include... the [j]udgment from

Trans Healthcare, Inc. v. Creekmore

137 So. 3d 1112, 2014 WL 1230498, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 4409

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 26, 2014 | Docket: 60240173

Cited 1 times | Published

entitled to full faith and credit in this state.” § 55.502(1), Fla. Stat. (2009). The use of the terms “decree”

Weiss v. Weiss

100 So. 3d 1220, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 19700, 2012 WL 5499974

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 14, 2012 | Docket: 60225580

Cited 1 times | Published

meaning of a "foreign judgment,” defined in section 55.502(1), Florida Statutes (2007) to mean "any judgment

Capstone Bank v. WinSouth Credit Union

230 So. 3d 1266

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 30, 2017 | Docket: 60282812

Published

domesticate a judgment. See id at 316 (quoting § 55.502(2), Fla. Stat. (2013)) (stating that the FEFJA

John Patrick v. Richard Hess

212 So. 3d 1039, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 174, 2017 WL 632259, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 337

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Feb 16, 2017 | Docket: 4586139

Published

action on a foreign judgment” and “as worded, section 55.502(4) applies to Florida’s five-year statute of

De La Osa v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

208 So. 3d 259, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 18361

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 14, 2016 | Docket: 4552616

Published

interchangeably for procedural matters, see, e.g., § 55.502(1), Florida Statutes (2016) (" ‘[Fjoreign judgment’

Hess v. Patrick

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 20, 2015 | Docket: 2658381

Published

credit by the courts of Florida. See id.; see also § 55.502(1); Fazzini v. Davis, 98 So. 3d 98, 102-03 (Fla

Hess v. Patrick

164 So. 3d 19, 2015 WL 1443113

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 1, 2015 | Docket: 2646049

Published

courts of Florida. See id.; see also § 55.502(1); Fazzini v. Davis, 98 So.3d 98,

Hunt v. Hooper

996 So. 2d 940, 2008 WL 5191505

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 12, 2008 | Docket: 1692713

Published

any other state or of the United States," see § 55.502(1), and "out of country foreign judgments" that

Weiss v. Weiss

973 So. 2d 1247, 2008 WL 313461

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 6, 2008 | Docket: 1687754

Published

entitled to full faith and credit in this state." § 55.502(1). If the provision at issue in this case is