Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
A recent Florida appellate court decision, 2010 WL 4226204, came to the conclusion that if a trust only has a piece of real property as its sole asset and the trust documents provide an intent that the trust give 5% of its annual principal disbursements to the beneficiary, no monies needs to be paid to the beneficiary. However, as a substitute, the court ordered this trust to pay 5% of the interest in the principal asset to the beneficiary. The court ruled that this would be an “equivalent transfer of interest.”
What this may mean to you: If you find yourself as the beneficiary of a trust where the sole asset is a house or some other type of real property and you are expecting a disbursement from the trust, you may be entitled to a substitute payment in an interest in the house. On the other hand, if you are a trustee of a trust with no money to make disbursements, you may still have some options depending on the language of the trust. In either case, you should contact a Jacksonville Florida Trust lawyer who can look over the facts of your particular situation, and let you know the possible legal avenues you can pursue. Or, if you are further down the road leading to litigation, you can contact a Florida Trust Litigation attorney who can represent you in court.