Your Trustee Answers to the Trust, and the Trust Answers to You

Trusts exist so that someone trustworthy can manage assets for someone else’s benefit, but “trustworthy” is a designation, not a guarantee. Beneficiaries sometimes discover that a trustee is making decisions that seem arbitrary, self-serving, or simply wrong, and they are left wondering whether they have any real recourse or whether they just have to live with it. The good news, if there is good news in this situation, is that a trustee’s decisions are not beyond question. Florida law gives beneficiaries specific tools to challenge how a trust is being run, and Fort Lauderdale trustee duties attorneys work with these tools regularly. Understanding what those options actually look like is the first step toward using them well, and an attorney’s guidance early on tends to shape how smoothly the rest of the process goes.

Start With What the Trust Actually Requires

Before assuming a trustee has done something wrong, it helps to separate a decision you dislike from a decision that breaches the trustee’s duties. A trustee has discretion over many choices, and disagreeing with a judgment call is different from proving the trustee acted improperly. The more useful question is whether the trustee followed the terms of the trust document and administered it honestly, or whether they departed from those obligations in a way that harmed the beneficiaries.

Requesting an Accounting First

Often the first formal step is requesting a full accounting of trust assets, income, and distributions. Trustees generally owe beneficiaries this information, and a detailed accounting can either resolve concerns or confirm them. If a trustee refuses to provide one, that refusal itself becomes relevant, since it can be raised with the court as part of a broader challenge.

Petitioning the Court

When informal steps do not resolve the problem, Florida beneficiaries can ask a court to intervene directly. A settlor, cotrustee, or beneficiary may petition to remove a trustee, and courts can grant that relief for reasons including a serious breach of trust or a persistent failure to administer the trust effectively (Fla. Stat. § 736.0706). Beneficiaries can also ask a court to surcharge a trustee for losses caused by mismanagement, or to compel specific action the trustee has been avoiding. These proceedings tend to move faster and more effectively when someone experienced in trust litigation is guiding the strategy from the start.

Building a Record That Holds Up

Whatever path a challenge takes, it usually comes down to documentation. Correspondence with the trustee, requested and received accountings, and a clear timeline of what was promised versus what was delivered all become the backbone of a case. Beneficiaries who start organizing this information early, before things escalate, tend to be in a much stronger position if the matter ends up in front of a judge.

Challenging a trustee is rarely simple, and it is not something beneficiaries should have to figure out through trial and error. Our team at Edward J. Jennings, P.A., works with Broward County families to evaluate whether a trustee’s conduct crosses the line and to pursue accountings, surcharge actions, or removal petitions when it does. Reach out to schedule a consultation, either by calling 954-764-4330 or filling out our online contact form, so we can talk through what is actually happening with your trust and what your realistic options are.

Source:

flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/736.0706