Fla. Stat. § 605.0711 — Florida Code / Title XXXVI / Chapter 605 / Section 605.0711
605.0711 Known claims against dissolved limited liability company.
Status: in_force

(1) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity, as defined in subsection (14), may dispose of the known claims against it by following the procedures described in subsections (2)-(7).

(2) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity shall deliver to each of its known claimants written notice of the dissolution after its effective date. The written notice must do the following: (a) Provide a reasonable description of the claim that the claimant may be entitled to assert. (b) State whether the claim is admitted or not admitted, in whole or in part, and, if admitted: 1. The amount that is admitted, which may be as of a given date; and 2. An interest obligation if fixed by an instrument of indebtedness. (c) Provide a mailing address to which a claim may be sent. (d) State the deadline, which may not be less than 120 days after the effective date of the written notice, by which confirmation of the claim must be delivered to the dissolved limited liability company or successor entity. (e) State that the dissolved limited liability company or successor entity may make distributions to other claimants and to the members or transferees of the limited liability company or persons interested without further notice.

(3) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity may reject, in whole or in part, a claim made by a claimant pursuant to this subsection by mailing notice of the rejection to the claimant within 90 days after receipt of the claim and, in all events, at least 150 days before the expiration of the 3-year period after the effective date of dissolution. A notice sent by the dissolved limited liability company or successor entity pursuant to this subsection must be accompanied by a copy of this section.

(4) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity electing to follow the procedures described in subsections (2) and (3) shall also give notice of the dissolution of the limited liability company to persons who have known claims that are contingent upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of future events or otherwise conditional or unmatured and request that the persons present the claims in accordance with the terms of the notice. The notice must be in substantially the same form and sent in the same manner as described in subsection (2).

(5) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity shall offer a claimant whose known claim is contingent, conditional, or unmatured such security as the limited liability company or entity determines is sufficient to provide compensation to the claimant if the claim matures. The dissolved limited liability company or successor entity shall deliver such offer to the claimant within 90 days after receipt of the claim and, in all events, at least 150 days before expiration of 3 years after the effective date of dissolution. If the claimant that is offered the security does not deliver in writing to the dissolved limited liability company or successor entity a notice rejecting the offer within 120 days after receipt of the offer for security, the claimant is deemed to have accepted such security as the sole source from which to satisfy his, her, or its claim against the limited liability company.

(6) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity that gives notice in accordance with subsections (2) and (4) shall petition the circuit court in the applicable county to determine the amount and form of security that are sufficient to provide compensation to a claimant that has rejected the offer for security made pursuant to subsection (5).

(7) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity that has given notice in accordance with subsection (2) shall petition the circuit court in the applicable county to determine the amount and form of security that will be sufficient to provide compensation to claimants whose claims are known to the limited liability company or successor entity but whose identities are unknown. The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to represent all claimants whose identities are unknown in a proceeding brought under this subsection. The reasonable fees and expenses of the guardian, including all reasonable expert witness fees, shall be paid by the petitioner in the proceeding.

(8) The giving of notice or making of an offer pursuant to this section does not revive a claim then barred, extend an otherwise applicable statute of limitations, or constitute acknowledgment by the dissolved limited liability company or successor entity that a person to whom such notice is sent is a proper claimant, and does not operate as a waiver of a defense or counterclaim in respect of a claim asserted by a person to whom such notice is sent.

(9) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity that followed the procedures described in subsections (2)-(7) must: (a) Pay the claims admitted or made and not rejected in accordance with subsection (3); (b) Post the security offered and not rejected pursuant to subsection (5); (c) Post a security ordered by the circuit court in a proceeding under subsections (6) and (7); and (d) Pay or make provision for all other known obligations of the limited liability company or the successor entity. If there are sufficient funds, such claims or obligations must be paid in full, and a provision for payments must be made in full. If there are insufficient funds, the claims and obligations shall be paid or provided for according to their priority and, among claims of equal priority, ratably to the extent of funds that are legally available therefor. Remaining funds shall be distributed to the members and transferees of the dissolved limited liability company. However, the distribution may not be made before the expiration of 150 days after the date of the last notice of a rejection given pursuant to subsection (3). In the absence of actual fraud, the judgment of the managers of a dissolved manager-managed limited liability company or the members of a dissolved member-managed limited liability company, or other person or persons winding up the limited liability company or the governing persons of the successor entity, as to the provisions made for the payment of all obligations under paragraph (d), is conclusive.

(10) A dissolved limited liability company or successor entity that has not followed the procedures described in subsections (2) and (3) shall pay or make reasonable provision to pay all known claims and obligations, including all contingent, conditional, or unmatured claims known to the dissolved limited liability company or the successor entity and all claims that are known to the dissolved limited liability company or the successor entity but for which the identity of the claimant is unknown. If there are sufficient funds, the claims must be paid in full, and a provision made for payment must be made in full. If there are insufficient funds, the claims and obligations shall be paid or provided for according to their priority and, among claims of equal priority, ratably to the extent of funds that are legally available. Remaining funds shall be distributed to the members and transferees of the dissolved limited liability company.

(11) A member or transferee of a dissolved limited liability company to which the assets were distributed pursuant to subsection (9) or subsection (10) is not liable for a claim against the limited liability company in an amount in excess of the member’s or transferee’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the member or transferee, whichever is less.

(12) A member or transferee of a dissolved limited liability company to whom the assets were distributed pursuant to subsection (9) is not liable for a claim against the limited liability company, which claim is known to the limited liability company or successor entity and on which a proceeding is not begun before the expiration of 3 years after the effective date of dissolution.

(13) The aggregate liability of a person for claims against the dissolved limited liability company arising under this section or s. 605.0710 may not exceed the amount distributed to the person in dissolution.

(14) As used in this section and s. 605.0712, the term “successor entity” includes a trust, receivership, or other legal entity governed by the laws of this state to which the remaining assets and liabilities of a dissolved limited liability company are transferred and which exists solely for the purposes of prosecuting and defending suits by or against the dissolved limited liability company, thereby enabling the dissolved limited liability company to settle and close the activities and affairs of the dissolved limited liability company, to dispose of and convey the property of the dissolved limited liability company, to discharge the liabilities of the dissolved limited liability company, and to distribute to the dissolved limited liability company’s members or transferees any remaining assets, but not for the purpose of continuing the activities and affairs for which the dissolved limited liability company was organized.

(15) As used in this section and ss. 605.0712 and 605.0713, the term “applicable county” means the county in this state in which the limited liability company’s principal office is located or was located at the effective date of dissolution; if the company has, and at the effective date of dissolution had, no principal office in this state, then in the county in which the company has, or at the effective date of dissolution had, an office in this state; or if none in this state, then in the county in which the company’s registered office is or was last located.

(16) As used in this section, the term “known claim” or “claim” includes unliquidated claims, but does not include a contingent liability that has not matured so that there is no immediate right to bring suit or a claim based on an event occurring after the effective date of dissolution.

History: s. 2, ch. 2013-180; s. 134, ch. 2014-17.