Understanding What Trust Services Cost in Florida

How much do trust services typically cost? There is no single price. Cost depends on the work a trust needs, from drafting to administration to a dispute. This guide breaks down each cost category and the facts that move it up or down.

Responsible lawyer: Leslie V. Marenco. Office: Coral Gables, Florida. We serve clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and other Florida communities.

What “Trust Services” Usually Covers

Trust services cover several different jobs. They include drafting a trust, moving assets into it, managing it during life or after a death, and resolving trust disputes. Each job takes different work, so each carries its own cost. One total rarely fits every case.

Trust Counsel, PL focuses on trusts and estates law in Florida. The firm advises and represents trustees, personal representatives (often called an executor) and beneficiaries. Trust Counsel’s attorneys can serve individually as trustee or personal representative. The firm itself does not serve as a fiduciary. For an overview of the work, see our professional trustee page.

The Main Cost Components

Trust costs fall into four groups. The first is attorney work. That covers drafting, reviewing assets, advising, preparing filings and talking with beneficiaries. Engagement terms set those fees, and this page does not quote them.

The second group is fiduciary compensation. This is pay for a trustee or personal representative who runs the administration. The third group is filing, recording and court costs. Third-party fees, such as appraisers or accountants, also land here. The fourth group is ongoing administration, covered below.

A trustee may also be repaid for expenses. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0709, a trustee may be reimbursed from trust property, with interest as appropriate, for reasonable expenses properly incurred in administering the trust.

Trust Counsel offers a free first consultation. It is confidential and carries no obligation to continue.

How Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts Affect Cost

A revocable trust can be changed during the settlor’s lifetime. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0602, the settlor may revoke or amend the trust unless its terms say it is irrevocable, though this rule does not apply to a trust created under an instrument signed before the Florida Trust Code took effect. Because changes are possible, drafting can be simpler.

An irrevocable trust usually calls for more precise drafting and more formal administration. Changing one can also bring court involvement, according to ACTEC on changing irrevocable trusts. That difference can shift both upfront and later costs.

Flexibility and control often trade off against structure. ACTEC notes that promotional trust structures may create tax and creditor-protection risks. So the trust type should match the client’s goals, as ACTEC on non-grantor irrevocable trusts explains. The right structure depends on the facts.

Factors That Raise or Lower Trust Costs

Several facts move the cost up or down. Size and complexity matter most. Real estate in more than one county, closely held business interests and many account types all take more review time.

The number and type of beneficiaries also matter. Minor, contingent or disabled beneficiaries may need added planning. Each one adds decisions that must be made and documented.

Funding is another driver. Every bank account, deed and beneficiary designation that must move into the trust takes time. Gathering those records late often means more review and more back-and-forth.

Integration with the rest of the plan adds work. Powers of attorney, wills and business succession documents should match the trust. Assets held outside Florida, or owned by foreign families, can add review time as well.

Ongoing Administration and Annual Costs

Many trusts carry recurring work. Accounting, tax filings, distributions and beneficiary reports all take time. Each one can add cost over the life of the trust.

Florida law requires trustees to keep qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0813, within 60 days after accepting the trust, the trustee must notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance, the trustee’s full name and address, and that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege applies to the trustee and any attorney the trustee hires; while a trust is revocable, however, these duties are owed only to the settlor. The same section requires accountings for most irrevocable trusts at least annually, with exceptions.

An accounting must show compensation paid to the trustee and the trustee’s agents. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.08135, a trust accounting must be a reasonably understandable report. Keep this in mind when you compare costs.

A trust does not always carry a fixed yearly fee. Ongoing cost depends on the administration the trust needs. Ask for the fee terms in writing before any engagement.

How Florida Law Sets Fiduciary Compensation

Fiduciary compensation questions depend on the terms of the governing trust or will and the facts of each administration. For a personal representative, Fla. Stat. § 733.617 allows a commission from estate assets without 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.

On petition of an interested person, the court may increase or decrease ordinary-services pay. The court may also award pay for extraordinary services, under the same statute.

For a trustee, if the terms of a trust do not specify the trustee’s compensation, Fla. Stat. § 736.0708 entitles the trustee to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances. If the trust does not set pay, the trustee gets reasonable compensation under the circumstances. If the trust does set pay, the trustee gets that amount, but a court may allow more or less in limited cases.

The same statute sets rules for an attorney who serves as trustee. That attorney, or a person related to them, generally cannot take trustee pay if the attorney prepared or supervised the trust naming them, unless the attorney or person appointed is related to the settlor, or the attorney makes specific disclosures to the settlor before signing and the settlor signs a written acknowledgment of them. This applies to appointments under trusts executed by a Florida resident on or after October 1, 2020, and to trusts amended by a Florida resident on or after that date if the amendment names the attorney or a related person as trustee. Trustee pay is separate from legal fees for the attorney’s work. Trustee pay is separate from legal fees for the attorney’s work.

Probate Avoidance and Asset Protection: Cost Considerations

A trust can help a family avoid some of the time and court steps of probate. The cost comparison turns on the estate’s size, its assets and where those assets sit. Compare the full picture, not one line item.

Probate costs include court filings, attorney fees and fiduciary pay. Under Fla. Stat. § 733.106, any attorney who has rendered services to an estate may be awarded reasonable compensation from the estate.

Trust work has a parallel rule. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.1005, an attorney who served a trust may apply to the court for reasonable compensation from the trust. Notice goes to the trustee and to beneficiaries entitled to an accounting.

Trust Counsel also handles asset protection planning as one category of work. The cost depends on the strategy and the facts of each family. Savings depend on the estate, so weigh all costs before you decide.

Ways to Plan for Trust Costs and What to Ask at a Consultation

Start by gathering a complete asset list. Include deeds, account statements, business documents and beneficiary designations. Missing records are one of the most common causes of extra cost.

Next, decide which goals matter most. Privacy, control and protecting assets for a child are common examples. Bring that list to your first meeting so the discussion stays focused.

Ask a few direct questions. What does the engagement cover? What fees and costs do you owe beyond legal fees? How is ongoing administration billed? How is any trustee or personal representative pay set?

Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0708(4)(a), an attorney serving as a trustee, or a person related to that attorney, is not entitled to compensation for serving as trustee if the attorney prepared or supervised the execution of the trust instrument that appointed the attorney or related person, unless the attorney or person appointed is related to the settlor or the required disclosures were made to the settlor before the trust instrument was executed. Under § 736.0708(4)(f), this rule applies to appointments made under a trust agreement executed by a Florida resident on or after October 1, 2020, or amended by a Florida resident on or after that date if the amendment nominates the attorney who prepared or supervised it, or a person related to that attorney, as trustee. Fiduciary and legal services are separate roles, and compensation payable to the trustee is in addition to any attorney fees payable for legal services rendered to the trustee.

If you’re handling a parent’s trust after a death, or weighing trust costs while you plan ahead, you don’t have to sort it out alone. Call Trust Counsel, PL at (305) 707-7126, or schedule a strategy call through our contact page.