How Does a Professional Trustee Work in Florida?

How does a professional trustee work? In short, the trustee manages trust property under the trust’s terms, treats beneficiaries fairly, and keeps clear records.

If a trust already names a professional trustee, or a parent is planning one, you may have questions. This guide explains the role in plain order. It covers the duties, the steps, how pay is set, and the trade-offs families weigh.

What is a professional trustee?

A professional trustee is a paid fiduciary who is not a family member or beneficiary of the trust. A fiduciary is someone who must act for another person’s benefit.

Professional trustees usually come from a few groups. Some are trust companies. Some are bank trust departments. Others are individuals who serve for a fee.

Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation separates family trust companies from non-deposit trust companies.

The trustee holds legal title to trust property. The trustee’s name is on those assets. The trustee manages them for the beneficiaries, under the terms the settlor wrote. The settlor is the person who created the trust.

Trust Counsel’s attorney, Leslie V. Marenco, can serve individually as trustee or personal representative. The firm advises and represents trustees, personal representatives and beneficiaries.

Terms matter here. Florida calls the person who handles a probate estate the personal representative (often called an executor). A trustee handles a trust. The duties overlap, but the roles and court processes differ.

What duties does a professional trustee carry out?

A professional trustee must act in good faith, follow the trust’s terms, and treat beneficiaries fairly. These duties can be complex, and questions about them are worth discussing with an attorney.

Once a trustee accepts the role, the trustee must administer the trust in good faith. The trustee must follow the trust’s terms and purposes and serve the beneficiaries’ interests. Fla. Stat. § 736.0801

Florida’s duty of loyalty in Fla. Stat. § 736.0802(1) requires a trustee to administer the trust only in the interests of the beneficiaries. If a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee must act impartially. Fla. Stat. § 736.0803

The trustee must also act as a prudent person would. That means reasonable care, skill, and caution. Fla. Stat. § 736.0804

Records are part of the job. The trustee must keep clear, distinct, and accurate records. The trustee must also keep trust property separate from the trustee’s own property. Fla. Stat. § 736.0810

How does trust administration unfold, step by step?

Administration usually starts with the trust document, not the assets. The trustee reads the terms, decides whether to accept the role, and then secures the property.

Acceptance is a real step. A trustee can accept by substantially following a method in the trust. A trustee can also accept by taking delivery of trust property or performing trustee duties. A designated trustee who doesn’t accept within a reasonable time is treated as having declined. Fla. Stat. § 736.0701

Timing matters for irrevocable trusts. Within 60 days after the trustee learns of the trust’s creation, or, for a formerly revocable trust, learns that it has become irrevocable, the trustee must notify qualified beneficiaries (Fla. Stat. § 736.0813). The notice covers the trust’s existence, the settlor’s identity, the right to a copy of the trust, and the right to accountings.

If you’re unsure how a trust was set up, the LTCFE guide to trust types explains how revocable and irrevocable trusts differ.

After that comes the asset work. The trustee secures property, handles debts, and makes distributions as the trust directs. Early work sets the pace. Slow records or missed notices make later questions harder to answer.

Why do families choose a professional trustee?

Families usually choose a professional trustee for neutrality, continuity, and steady administration. Each reason ties back to a rule the trustee must follow.

Neutrality matters when relatives disagree. A trustee outside the family does not share its history or sides. When siblings disagree, a neutral trustee can document each decision and the reason behind it. The duty of impartiality applies when there are two or more beneficiaries. Fla. Stat. § 736.0803

Continuity matters when a trustee leaves. If a trustee dies, resigns, or is removed, the trust may need a replacement. Florida fills a required vacancy in a noncharitable trust in a set order. First comes a person the trust names. Then comes a person the qualified beneficiaries unanimously agree on. Last, the court appoints someone.

Administrative capacity matters for long trusts. Recordkeeping, tax filings, and accountings are regular work for a professional trustee. They are not occasional tasks squeezed in between other jobs.

What are the trade-offs families should weigh?

The main trade-offs are cost, less personal knowledge of the family, and less day-to-day contact. The trust’s drafting matters as much as who serves.

Cost comes first. A professional trustee may be paid for services: under Fla. Stat. § 736.0708, a trustee is entitled to the compensation the trust specifies or, if the trust is silent, to reasonable compensation under the circumstances, and a court may allow more or less than a specified amount when the trustee’s duties differ substantially from those contemplated when the trust was created or the specified compensation would be unreasonably low or high. A trustee may also hire attorneys, accountants, and advisers. The trustee can pay reasonable costs for that help from trust assets. Those costs add up, so ask about them early.

A professional may know little about family history or values. It may not know why the settlor wrote a certain term. A relative often knows those things, and that gap can matter in a disagreement.

Contact style changes too. Beneficiaries often get written reports rather than a call from a relative who lives nearby.

Trust terms still control. A trustee must follow the document, even when a beneficiary wants a different result. Clear drafting protects trustees and beneficiaries alike.

How is a professional trustee paid under Florida law?

A professional trustee is paid the amount the trust specifies. If the trust is silent, Florida law entitles the trustee to reasonable compensation.

The statute says: “If the terms of a trust do not specify the trustee’s compensation, a trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances.”

If the trust does specify pay, the trustee is compensated as specified. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0708(2), the court may allow more or less compensation if the trustee’s duties are substantially different from those the settlor expected when the trust was created, or if the compensation would be unreasonably low or high. Fla. Stat. § 736.0708

Attorney-trustees follow a stricter rule. An attorney who prepared or supervised the trust that named them is not entitled to trustee pay. Exceptions apply, such as a family relationship with the settlor or required written disclosures made before signing. Pay for serving as trustee is separate from attorney fees for legal work. Fla. Stat. § 736.0708

What should a family ask before a professional trustee takes over?

Ask how the trustee reports, what the fee covers, and who takes over if the trustee leaves. The answers shape how the trust runs for years.

Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0813(1)(d), the trustee of an irrevocable trust owes each qualified beneficiary a trust accounting at least annually, as well as on termination of the trust and on a change of trustee. The trustee must also account when the trustee changes or the trust ends. The final accounting must include a plan for undistributed assets. Fla. Stat. § 736.08135

Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0813, a qualified beneficiary may ask the trustee for a complete copy of the trust instrument, and the trustee must provide it on reasonable request. This right does not apply while the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, because § 736.0603 provides that the trustee’s duties during that time are owed to the settlor. Fla. Stat. § 736.0813

A trustee may resign on at least 30 days’ notice to qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living, and cotrustees. A trustee may also resign with court approval.

The settlor, a cotrustee, or a beneficiary may ask the court to remove a trustee. The court may remove a trustee who has committed a serious breach of trust. Fla. Stat. § 736.0706

When does a trust attorney come into the picture?

A trust administration attorney advises the trustee on legal duties, filings, and distributions. A trust litigation attorney handles disputes when a beneficiary challenges a trustee’s conduct or a trust’s terms.

The trustee manages the trust. The attorney advises and represents the parties. Those are separate roles, and keeping them clear helps everyone.

Trust Counsel focuses on trust and estate matters in Florida. Its work includes probate litigation, trust litigation, and trust administration. The firm’s only office is in Coral Gables. We serve clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach.

Talk with Trust Counsel about your family’s trust

If a trust names a professional trustee you didn’t choose, the role can feel unclear and urgent. You don’t have to sort out the duties alone.

How expensive is a professional trustee?

The trust document sets the trustee’s pay when it specifies one. If it doesn’t, Florida law allows reasonable compensation for the circumstances.

Is there any downside to being a trustee?

A trustee must follow duties of loyalty, impartiality, and prudence. A serious breach of trust can lead a court to remove the trustee. Fla. Stat. § 736.0706

What does a trustee normally get paid?

Florida law looks first to the trust’s terms. If the terms are silent, it allows reasonable compensation. Fla. Stat. § 736.0708

What is the first thing a trustee should do?

Start by reading the trust document and deciding whether to accept the role. In an irrevocable trust, the trustee has 60 days to notify the qualified beneficiaries, counted from when the trustee accepts the trust or from when the trustee learns that the trust was created or that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable (Fla. Stat. § 736.0813(1)). Fla. Stat. § 736.0813

Trust Counsel offers a free first consultation. It is confidential and carries no obligation to continue. To talk through your family’s trust, call (305) 707-7126 or schedule online.