Trustee and Personal Representative Roles, Explained

Professional Trustee Services Aventura | Trust Counsel

Trust and Estate Decisions Aventura Families Face

A trustee runs a trust. A personal representative (often called an executor) runs a probate estate. Both roles involve responsibilities to the people they serve. This page explains the roles of professional trustee and personal representative (often called an executor) that Aventura families may need to understand, and what those roles involve day to day.

Most Aventura families meet these roles in one of three ways. A parent’s trust names a trustee. A will names a personal representative. Or a relative has died and left property that now needs administering.

Trust Counsel, PL serves clients in Aventura from its only office, in Coral Gables. Leslie V. Marenco is the responsible lawyer for this page. The firm advises and represents trustees, personal representatives and beneficiaries. Trust Counsel’s attorneys can serve individually as trustee or personal representative. The firm itself does not serve in either role.

Knowing these roles early helps you ask better questions. It also helps you see what each person must do.

Who Can Serve as Trustee or Personal Representative?

Common choices are a family member, a trusted friend, an attorney serving individually, or a professional trustee. Each option has trade-offs you should weigh.

Florida law is broad about who may serve as personal representative. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.302, a legally competent adult who was a Florida resident when the decedent died can qualify, subject to the code’s limits.

Professional trustee companies are a separate category. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation says non-deposit trust companies provide trustee and estate administration services. They must submit an application to that office.

The corporate option is narrow. Fla. Stat. § 733.305 names trust companies incorporated in Florida and state or national banks and savings associations that are authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in Florida. So Trust Counsel, PL is not among the entities that § 733.305 names as entitled to act as personal representatives or curators, and that section does not address trustee service. Its attorneys can serve individually.

Choosing the right person depends on the facts. Estate size, family dynamics and how complex the administration will be all matter.

What a Trustee or Personal Representative Actually Does

A trustee manages trust property for the beneficiaries. A personal representative settles a probate estate under the will and Florida law.

Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0801, a trustee must administer the trust in good faith. The trustee follows the trust’s terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries.

The trustee, not the personal representative, carries this duty: under Fla. Stat. § 736.0801, upon acceptance of a trusteeship, the trustee must administer the trust in good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries, and in accordance with this code. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.602, the personal representative is a fiduciary who must observe the standards of care that apply to trustees. The estate must be settled and distributed under the will and the probate code.

Early work usually includes an inventory. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.604, unless an inventory has already been filed, the personal representative files a verified inventory. Each item gets an estimated fair market value at the date of death.

Day-to-day work includes protecting assets, paying valid debts and taxes, communicating with beneficiaries, and distributing property as the document directs. A personal representative who breaches this duty can be liable to interested persons.

Accountings and Beneficiary Rights in Florida

Beneficiaries have a real right to information. For many irrevocable trusts, each qualified beneficiary has a right to a trust accounting at least annually, unless the trustee is a family trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company, whose trust terms may limit accounting.

Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0813, a trustee must keep qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed. On reasonable request, the trustee must provide a complete copy of the trust instrument and relevant information about assets and administration.

For an irrevocable trust, the trustee must account to each qualified beneficiary at least once a year, unless a family trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company, as defined in s. 662.111, is the trustee; in that case the trust terms may permit accounting only at termination, upon the removal, resignation, or other event resulting in the trustee ceasing to serve, or upon demand of a qualified beneficiary or the representative of a qualified beneficiary. The trustee must also account when the trust ends or the trustee changes. A beneficiary can waive the annual accounting, but only in writing.

While a trust is revocable, the trustee’s duties under that statute extend only to the settlor. A narrow family trust company rule can also limit accountings, but it does not cover every trustee.

Trust accountings must be reasonably understandable. Fla. Stat. § 736.08135 requires them to show cash and property transactions and trustee compensation. The final accounting must include a plan of distribution for undistributed assets.

Estates work differently. A beneficiary can request in writing an explanation of how an inventory value was set, or a copy of any appraisal. Estate accountings filed with the clerk are confidential, but they must be disclosed to interested persons. If a trustee or personal representative refuses to share information, the firm’s trust litigation and probate litigation attorneys handle disputes like that.

How Professional Fiduciary Fees Are Set in Florida

Fiduciary pay in Florida follows the statutes and the terms of the will or trust. Each fee question needs its own answer.

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.617, a personal representative may take a commission from estate assets without a court order for ordinary services. The commission is based on the estate’s compensable value. That value is the inventory value of probate assets plus income earned during administration. Extra reasonable pay is possible for extraordinary services, such as selling property.

Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0708, a trustee gets reasonable compensation when the trust sets no fee. When the trust sets a fee, the trustee is paid that amount. A court may allow more or less if the duties changed substantially or the fee is unreasonably low or high.

Attorney-fiduciary rules add limits. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.617(8)(a), an attorney serving as personal representative (or a related person) is not entitled to compensation for serving as a personal representative if the attorney prepared or supervised the execution of the will that nominated them. That bar has an exception. It does not apply if the attorney or the person nominated is related to the testator, or if the attorney made the required disclosures to the testator before the will was signed.

Ask how each fee is set, and get the answer in writing.

Florida Probate and Trust Matters for Aventura Residents

A Florida probate case generally opens in the county where the person was domiciled, meaning legal home. For most Aventura residents, that county is Miami-Dade.

Under Fla. Stat. § 733.101, venue for probate of a will and granting letters is in the county where the decedent was domiciled. If the decedent had no Florida domicile, venue lies in any county where the decedent’s property is located. Aventura sits in Miami-Dade County, so an Aventura estate usually starts there.

Trusts and probate follow different paths. A trust is administered under its own terms. Probate runs through the court for a will. How property is titled often decides which path applies. The facts of each case matter.

Families who need professional trustee and executor services Aventura often start with this county question. We serve clients in Aventura. The firm’s only office is in Coral Gables.

Talk With Trust Counsel About Your Aventura Trust or Estate

If you have a trust or will in hand, start with the firm’s free first consultation. It is confidential and carries no obligation to continue.

Maybe a parent’s trust now names a trustee. Maybe a will names a personal representative for property in Aventura. Either way, the next decision is who acts and what that person must do. Call (305) 707-7126 or reach the Coral Gables office through our contact page.