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What Palm Beach Trust Beneficiaries Need to Know About Trust Damages

Uncategorized Mar 27, 2014

Are you a beneficiary of a Palm Beach trust and want to sue your Florida trustee for investment losses?  Hold on a minute.  Before you point to  trust accountings or monthly financial statements which show  stock losses from investments made by the Palm Beach trustee , understand the Florida Trust Code. There may be more there than simply a decline in the value of the trust’s stocks.   If you are trust beneficiary and are concerned about investment losses in  your Florida Trust, consider the Florida Trust Code Seciton 736.1003 before  you get too involved or spend too much $$$ on a Palm Beach Trust litigator.  Here’s why a bear market, or a loss in stocks in your trust may not mean what you think it means.

Florida Trust Law:  You Need Damages &  Breach of Trust

To successfully sue your Palm Beach trustee, to get trust damages, a Florida trust beneficiary MUST demonstrate —prove in a Palm Beach probate court –that there was a breach of trust.

Q:  Did the trustee breach its duties to the trust beneficiaries?

Why?

Florida Trust Code Protects Trustees Absent a Breach of Trust

  • If there is no breach of trust, a trustee is NOT liable, or responsible, to a Palm Beach trust beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in value of trust property.
  • Don’t take my word, here’s the link to the Florida Trust Code:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0736/Sections/0736.1003.html

Proving a Breach of Trust and Trustee Liability in Palm Beach Trust Lawsuits

The question then becomes: if you are a trust beneficiary……

Q: How do  you prove a breach of trust by a Florida trustee at a Palm Beach trust lawsuit or trial ?