The Florida Trust Code explicitly sets forth the trustee’s duty to inform and account. The burden of proof is on the fiduciary to show he has performed his duties and the means for such proof is by providing a sufficient and proper accounting. A beneficiary is always entitled to all information as is reasonably necessary to enable the beneficiary to enforce his or her rights under the trust or to prevent a redress a breach of trust. Without a proper accounting disclosing how the trustee has handled the trust affairs, there is little chance of a trustee being held accountable and therefore the trustee’s duties could be breached at will with no means of redress. 3 For this very reason the law of trusts has always imposed a duty on the trustee to keep the beneficiary informed as to the administration of the trust and to account to the beneficiary for all actions taken by the trustee. 2 Also, the settlor’s estate has standing to seek an accounting from the trustee of the settlor’s trust, even if the estate is not an income or residuary beneficiary, if the trust document provided for the payment of settlor’s debts and estate claims and expenses. A trustee may also seek an accounting from a co-trustee.
1Ī beneficiary of an irrevocable trust has standing to seek an accounting from the trustee and from that accounting a beneficiary can enforce the trust and hold the trustee accountable. A statutory duty to account to qualified beneficiaries does not arise until the trust becomes irrevocable, usually upon the death of the settlor. While the settlor of a revocable trust is still alive, the trustee’s duty to account extend only to the settlor of the trust. A FIDUCIARY HAS A DUTY TO INFORM AND TO ACCOUNT
That fiduciary duty is critically important to ensure that the trustee is properly discharging his or her fiduciary duties in managing the affairs of the trust. One of the many duties a trustee has is the duty to inform and account. Practically the only time a beneficiary can review what the trustee has done and can challenge those actions is when the trustee provides an accounting to the beneficiary. Petersburg Estate Planning Lawyer > Resources > Fiduciary Trust Accounting HOLDING THE TRUSTEE ACCOUNTABLE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIDUCIARY TRUST ACCOUNTINGħ27 471 trustee is a person with broad discretion with little oversight over someone else’s assets.
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