Who Can Modify a Florida Trust

Who can revoke or modify a Florida trust? You know, most people have a revocable trust in
Florida, sometimes called a revocable living trust in Florida. Who can revoke it or modify it? You
know, people will amend or restate, or modify, or revoke their revocable trusts all the time.
Sometimes they have one amendment, a second amendment, a third or a fourth amendment.
But are those valid and were they valid amendments, in that were they amending a trust
properly?

You know, you have to amend or revoke a trust properly, we have rules and we have guidance
on how we do that. You just can’t do it anyway, nilly-willy, it has to be proper. And if you’re a
beneficiary, you maybe get a bigger share of an inheritance or a lesser share, depending on
whether that trust amendment in Florida is valid or not. And if you’re a trustee, you need to
know which trust’s instrumental amendment you’re supposed to be administering the trust
under.

You can read a little bit more about revocation of a trust in Florida by reading the Gurfinkel
Case, 972 So. 2d 927; it’s a 2007 case. Be mindful, it does discuss a power of attorney and we
have a new power of attorney statute since this case came out.