Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...The amended schedules listed the Lawsuit as exempt property and cited four different statutory bases for exemption of either the entire Lawsuit or portions of the potential recovery. First, the Debtor claims that the entire Lawsuit and any corresponding award is exempt pursuant to Florida Statute § 769.05....

...155, 156-57 (Bankr.M.D.Fla. 1988). Thus, the Court further finds that any award for lost future earnings of the Debtor is not property of the estate. In re Griseuk, 165 B.R. 956 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1994); In re Easter, 106 B.R. 748 (Bankr.S.D.Fla. 1989). D. FLORIDA STATUTE § 769.05 The Debtor claims that section 769.05 of the Florida Statutes provides an exemption for the Lawsuit and any award associated with the Lawsuit. This Court does not agree. Florida Statute § 769.05 provides: Writs of garnishment, execution or other processes, shall not issue out of any court to reach any money due or likely to become due as damages under any provisions of this chapter. Fla.Stat. 769.05 (1996) (emphasis added.) A plain reading of this section specifically limits the exemption to causes of action brought under chapter 769 of the Florida Statutes which contains Florida's Hazardous Occupations Act....

...ship's unseaworthiness; and Count III seeks a special form of recovery available to injured seamen known as maintenance and cure. Thus, the Debtor is precluded from claiming either the Lawsuit or any portion of the recovery as exempt under Fla.Stat. § 769.05 because the Lawsuit does not contain a cause of action brought under the Florida Hazardous Occupations Act....

...portion of the award is exempt under Fla.Stat. § 222.11. Alternatively, any back wages awarded are exempt under Fla. *646 Stat. § 222.11 and any future wages recovered are not property of the Debtor's estate. 4. The exemption provided by Fla.Stat. § 769.05 is limited to actions brought under chapter 769 of the Florida Statutes, the Florida Hazardous Occupations Act....