According to Florida Law, What is a Trustee’s ‘Duty of Loyalty’?

What obligations do trustees of a Florida trust have? What rights do beneficiaries of a West Palm Beach or Miami trust have? According to the Florida Statutes, what is a trustee’s duty of loyalty?

• For trusts which are administered according to Florida law, trust beneficiaries have a LOT, I mean, a LOT, of rights.
• Most trust beneficiaries realize that you are entitled to trust accountings, but that’s just the tip of the legal/beneficiary rights iceberg.
• Although our trust litigation law firm in Florida has a robust defense practice of assisting trustees with the administration of trusts, we also are hired by a number of beneficiaries who need help getting information from their trustee.
• Many times, a trustee simply won’t tell the beneficiary where the money is, how the trust property is being handled, or what the money is being spent on.
• The Florida trust beneficiary is in the dark. And when trustees act like that, they can get into a lot of trouble.
• When trustees behave badly, a probate court can suspend the powers of a trustee, remove the trustee from serving any more, and make the trustee pay costs, attorneys fees, a financial fine often referred to as “surcharge“, and return compensation like trustee fees.
• In any trust beneficiary lawsuit under the Florida Trust Code against a bad trustee, you should consider what remedies and damages are available to you, and how best to achieve those. This is perhaps more important than it seems. Why?
• Well, most Florida estate planning attorneys prepare a revocable trust, also called a living trust, for their clients, which becomes a “will substitute.”
• In other words, you are probably getting your Florida inheritance through a trust. How will your trustee treat you?

Duty of Loyalty in Florida Trust and Estates Litigation

• As the beneficiary of a Florida trust, the you have a right to have your trustee administer the trust solely for the interests of you and the other beneficiaries. Florida Statute 736.0802.
• This is referred to as the trustee’s duty of loyalty.
• This duty includes the obligation of the trustee to place the interests of the trust beneficiaries above every one else’s, including the trustee’s own.