diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a7789dc..e78941e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -93,6 +93,40 @@ $user->address->calculateDistance($otherUser->address);
 echo (string) $user->address;
 ```
 
+
+### Using defaults for null database values
+
+By default, if a database value is `null`, then the model attribute will also be `null`. However, sometimes you might want to instantiate the attribute with some default values.
+
+To achieve this, you may provide an additional `nullable` [Cast Parameter](https://laravel.com/docs/eloquent-mutators#cast-parameters) to ensure the caster gets instantiated.
+
+```php
+namespace App\Models;
+
+use App\Values\Address;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
+
+class User extends Model
+{
+    protected $casts = [
+        'settings' => Settings::class . ':nullable',
+    ];
+}
+```
+
+This will ensure that the `Settings` caster is instantiated even when the `settings` column in the database is `null`.
+
+You may then specify some default values in the cast which will be used instead.
+
+```php
+use JessArcher\CastableDataTransferObject\CastableDataTransferObject;
+
+class Settings extends CastableDataTransferObject 
+{
+    public string $title = 'Default';
+}
+```
+
 ### Controlling serialization
 
 You may provide the caster with flags to be used for serialization by adding the `CastUsingJsonFlags` attribute to your object:
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 5c9c52a..bdd25cc 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
     "require": {
         "php": "^8.0",
         "illuminate/contracts": "^8.0|^9.0",
-        "spatie/data-transfer-object": "^3.0",
+        "spatie/data-transfer-object": "^3.0.4",
         "thecodingmachine/safe": "^1.3|^2.0"
     },
     "require-dev": {
diff --git a/src/CastableDataTransferObject.php b/src/CastableDataTransferObject.php
index b307335..937dcb9 100644
--- a/src/CastableDataTransferObject.php
+++ b/src/CastableDataTransferObject.php
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ abstract class CastableDataTransferObject extends DataTransferObject implements
 {
     public static function castUsing(array $arguments)
     {
-        return new DataTransferObjectCast(static::class);
+        return new DataTransferObjectCast(static::class, $arguments);
     }
 
     public function toJson($options = 0)
diff --git a/src/Casts/DataTransferObject.php b/src/Casts/DataTransferObject.php
index 530d1f2..ebe912b 100644
--- a/src/Casts/DataTransferObject.php
+++ b/src/Casts/DataTransferObject.php
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ class DataTransferObject implements CastsAttributes
     public function __construct(
         /** @var string The DataTransferObject class to cast to */
         protected string $class,
+        /** @var array The cast parameters specified */
+        protected array $parameters = [],
     ) {
     }
 
@@ -20,6 +22,10 @@ public function __construct(
      */
     public function get($model, string $key, $value, array $attributes)
     {
+        if (is_null($value) && in_array('nullable', $this->parameters)) {
+            $value = '{}';
+        }
+
         if (is_null($value)) {
             return;
         }
diff --git a/tests/CastableDataTransferObjectTest.php b/tests/CastableDataTransferObjectTest.php
index 5961134..72d5af5 100644
--- a/tests/CastableDataTransferObjectTest.php
+++ b/tests/CastableDataTransferObjectTest.php
@@ -127,6 +127,17 @@ public function cast_uses_specified_flags_for_data_transfer_objects()
         $this->assertSame('{"floatValue":52.0}', $user->with_flags);
         $this->assertSame('{"floatValue":20}', $user->without_flags);
     }
+
+    /** @test */
+    public function it_passes_null_values_to_caster_when_nullable_cast_attribute_present()
+    {
+        $user = User::factory()->create(['settings' => null]);
+
+        $this->assertDatabaseHas('users', ['settings' => null]);
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(Settings::class, $user->refresh()->settings);
+        $this->assertEquals('Default', $user->settings->title);
+    }
 }
 
 class Address extends CastableDataTransferObject
@@ -147,6 +158,11 @@ class DataTransferObjectWithoutFlags extends CastableDataTransferObject
     public float $floatValue;
 }
 
+class Settings extends CastableDataTransferObject
+{
+    public string $title = 'Default';
+}
+
 class User extends Model
 {
     use HasFactory;
@@ -155,6 +171,7 @@ class User extends Model
         'address' => Address::class,
         'with_flags' => DataTransferObjectWithFlags::class,
         'without_flags' => DataTransferObjectWithoutFlags::class,
+        'settings' => Settings::class . ':nullable',
     ];
 
     protected static function newFactory()
diff --git a/tests/database/migrations/2014_10_12_000000_create_users_table.php b/tests/database/migrations/2014_10_12_000000_create_users_table.php
index d9b15c0..c2ee9dc 100644
--- a/tests/database/migrations/2014_10_12_000000_create_users_table.php
+++ b/tests/database/migrations/2014_10_12_000000_create_users_table.php
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ public function up()
             $table->jsonb('address')->nullable();
             $table->jsonb('with_flags')->nullable();
             $table->jsonb('without_flags')->nullable();
+            $table->jsonb('settings')->nullable();
             $table->timestamps();
         });
     }