Florida Trust Case Deals with Riparian Rights and Right to Construct a Pier

If you are the trustee of a Florida trust, are you aware of any riparian rights?

If you own land near water in Florida, you may want to read this recent Florida trust case.

Florida Trust Owns Waterfront Land

• In the July 16, 2014 case of 5F, LLC v. Dresing, Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal dealt with
• Riparian rights and water law (yes, water law)
• If you own Florida waterfront property, can you build a pier.?…
• On someone else’s land? ……..
• On submerged land (under water?)

Property Rights and Trust Case

• This property rights case pitted a trustee of a Florida trust against a Florida limited liability company
• The trust owned some land in Florida
• The Florida limited liability company wanted to oppose the trust’s right to build or construct a pier on submerged land owned by the Florida LLC

Lessons for Florida Trustees

• If you are a Florida trustee, do you own waterfront land?
• Do you have riparian rights in Florida?
• Do you have rights to build a pier, or to “wharf out” on submerged land which may be owned by another?
• How can you, as trustee, maximize the value of the land owned by the Florida trust?

Anyone interested in what Florida courts say about real estate litigation, riparian rights or the doctrine of collateral estoppel may want to read this Florida appeals court opinion.  The website for the Florida appeals court is: www.2dca.org and the Westlaw cite for the case is:  2014 WL  3446296.