When a Trustee Breaks Trust: Removing a Fiduciary in Palm Beach County

Most people who set up a trust never picture the moment things go sideways with the person managing it. But it happens more often than you’d think. A trustee stops sending statements. Assets that should be earning interest sit idle. A sibling appointed as trustee starts treating the trust like a personal bank account. When that happens, beneficiaries aren’t stuck. Florida law gives them a real path to remove a trustee who isn’t doing the job.

What Counts as a “Serious Breach of Trust”

Florida Statute 736.0706 lists the grounds for removal and a serious breach of trust is the one that shows up most often in court. This isn’t a catch-all for every minor disagreement. Courts are looking for concrete misconduct: self-dealing, using trust assets for personal benefit, ignoring the terms of the trust document, or simply failing to administer the trust with the diligence the law demands.

A few patterns tend to raise red flags for beneficiaries and courts alike:

• The trustee refuses to provide accountings or answer basic questions about trust assets
• Trust funds sit in a low-interest account for years with no explanation
• The trustee sells or transfers trust property to themselves, a relative, or a business they control
• Distributions are delayed, inconsistent, or seemingly tied to the trustee’s mood toward a particular beneficiary
• The trustee mixes trust money with their own personal or business accounts

None of these alone guarantees removal. A judge weighs the full picture, including whether the conduct actually harmed the beneficiaries and whether it’s severe enough to justify the disruption of swapping out a fiduciary mid-administration.

You Don’t Always Need to Prove Wrongdoing

Here’s something a lot of people don’t realize: Florida law also allows for what’s sometimes called a “no-fault” removal. Under a separate provision of the same statute, if there’s been a substantial change in circumstances, or if all the qualified beneficiaries agree removal is best, a court can remove a trustee without anyone proving misconduct at all. The catch is that removal still has to serve everyone’s interests, it can’t conflict with the trust’s core purpose, and a suitable replacement trustee has to be ready to step in. This route matters because breach cases can be slow and expensive to litigate, and sometimes the honest truth is that a trustee just isn’t the right fit anymore, not that they did anything criminal.

What the Process Actually Looks Like

Removing a trustee starts with a petition filed in probate court, usually by a beneficiary, a co-trustee, or the settlor if they’re still alive. The court can also act on its own if evidence of misconduct surfaces during other proceedings. Once a petition is filed, a judge has options even before reaching a final decision. The court can freeze certain trustee powers, appoint a special fiduciary to oversee trust property temporarily, or issue other protective orders while the case plays out. This matters because beneficiaries often worry that a bad trustee will keep draining assets while litigation drags on.

Winning a removal case usually comes down to documentation. Bank statements, correspondence, prior accountings (or the lack of them), and a clear timeline of what the trustee was supposed to do versus what actually happened. Vague suspicion rarely moves a judge. Specific, provable conduct does.

Why This Matters More Than People Assume

A trust is supposed to remove uncertainty, not create it. When a trustee breaches their duty, the financial damage can compound quickly, especially if real estate, business interests, or investment accounts are involved and no one is actively managing them. Waiting to act often makes the eventual fix more expensive and more contentious.

If you’re dealing with a trustee who isn’t communicating, isn’t managing assets responsibly, or appears to be putting their own interests ahead of the beneficiaries’, it’s worth having a frank conversation with Palm Beach County estate litigation attorneys about your options sooner rather than later. At Kitroser Lewis & Mighdoll, we’ve represented beneficiaries and trustees on both sides of these disputes, and we know how to build the record a court needs to act. Give us a call to talk through your situation.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0736/Sections/0736.0706.html