Florida Trust Beneficiary Wins Trust Appeal in Palm Beach Appeals Court- Woodward v. Woodward, a May 4, 2016 Opinion

If you are involved in Florida trust litigation where you are suing the trustee for breach of fiduciary duty and failure to provide an accounting, you may want to read the May 4,2016 Fourth DCA opinion in Woodward v. Woodward. You will definitely want to read this case if the trustee you are suing in yourFlorida trust lawsuit raises the defenses of laches and/or res judicata.

Woodward v. Woodward

• Woodward v.Woodward is a very important case handed down by the Fourth DCA.
• The Fourth DCA hears appeals from Martin County, Palm Beach County, andBroward County.
• Here, there was a 1996 lawsuit involving a Florida trustee and a trust, which was dismissed.
• In 2011, accountings were served by the trustee.
• On April 9, 2012, one of beneficiaries filed a lawsuit against the trustee alleging breach of fiduciary duty.
• Evidentially, the trustee had taken the assets from the trust, terminated the trust, and put those assets into two other trusts.
• There were a number of defenses raised by the trustee including res judicata andlaches.
• What is the affirmative defense of laches?
• According to Section 95.11(6) of the Florida Statutes(2012),” laches shall bar any action unless it is commenced within the time provided for legal actions concerning the same subject matter…”
• What does this mean?
• Click here to read more about the defense of laches and res judicata that may affect your probate or trust lawsuit Boca Raton.
  

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  • Read the Florida Courts webpage on the probate process:http://www.flcourts.org/resources-and-services/family-courts/family-law-self-help-information/probate.stml
  • Read the Florida Probate Code:http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBLegalRes.nsf/
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  • Here are the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure:http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBLegalRes.nsf/
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