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Chapter 518 — Investment of Fiduciary Funds

Florida Statute 518.11

“Investments by fiduciaries; prudent investor rule”

What it means

A fiduciary must invest and manage investment assets as a prudent investor would, considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other circumstances of the trust. The standard requires reasonable care and caution, applied to investments in the context of the portfolio as a whole and an overall strategy with risk and return objectives suited to the trust, guardianship, or probate estate. A fiduciary with special skills, or named on the basis of representations of special skills, must use them (§ 518.11(1)(a)). No specific investment is, alone, prudent or imprudent. Decisions are judged by reasonable business judgment under the facts at the time, and the rule is a test of conduct and not of resulting performance (§ 518.11(1)(b)).

The fiduciary must diversify unless it reasonably believes that not diversifying is in the beneficiaries' interests and furthers the purposes (§ 518.11(1)(c)). Within a reasonable time after acceptance, it must review the portfolio and decide whether to retain or dispose of original investments (§ 518.11(1)(d)). It must pursue a strategy that considers both reasonable production of income and safety of capital (§ 518.11(1)(e)). The governing instrument may expand, restrict, eliminate, or alter these provisions (§ 518.11(2)). The section applies to acts or omissions after October 1, 1993 (§ 518.11(5)).

— What it says
  • The standard is to invest as a prudent investor would, considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and circumstances (§ 518.11(1)(a)).
  • The rule is a test of conduct and not of resulting performance (§ 518.11(1)(b)).
  • A fiduciary has a duty to diversify, unless it reasonably believes that not diversifying is in the beneficiaries' interests and furthers the purposes (§ 518.11(1)(c)).
  • Within a reasonable time after acceptance, the fiduciary must review the portfolio and decide on original investments (§ 518.11(1)(d)).
  • The strategy must consider both reasonable production of income and safety of capital (§ 518.11(1)(e)).
  • The governing instrument may expand, restrict, eliminate, or alter the section's provisions (§ 518.11(2)).

Text of the statute (2026)

§ 518.11(1)(a)
(a) The fiduciary has a duty to invest and manage investment assets as a prudent investor would considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other circumstances of the trust. This standard requires the exercise of reasonable care and caution and is to be applied to investments not in isolation, but in the context of the investment portfolio as a whole and as a part of an overall investment strategy that should incorporate risk and return objectives reasonably suitable to the trust, guardianship, or probate estate. If the fiduciary has special skills, or is named fiduciary on the basis of representations of special skills or expertise, the fiduciary is under a duty to use those skills.
§ 518.11(1)(b)
(b) No specific investment or course of action is, taken alone, prudent or imprudent. The fiduciary may invest in every kind of property and type of investment, subject to this section. The fiduciary’s investment decisions and actions are to be judged in terms of the fiduciary’s reasonable business judgment regarding the anticipated effect on the investment portfolio as a whole under the facts and circumstances prevailing at the time of the decision or action. The prudent investor rule is a test of conduct and not of resulting performance.
§ 518.11(1)(c)-(e)
(c) The fiduciary has a duty to diversify the investments unless, under the circumstances, the fiduciary believes reasonably it is in the interests of the beneficiaries and furthers the purposes of the trust, guardianship, or estate not to diversify. (d) The fiduciary has a duty, within a reasonable time after acceptance of the trust, estate, or guardianship, to review the investment portfolio and to make and implement decisions concerning the retention and disposition of original preexisting investments in order to conform to the provisions of this section. The fiduciary’s decision to retain or dispose of an asset may be influenced properly by the asset’s special relationship or value to the purposes of the trust, estate, or guardianship, or to some or all of the beneficiaries, consistent with the trustee’s duty of impartiality, or to the ward. (e) The fiduciary has a duty to pursue an investment strategy that considers both the reasonable production of income and safety of capital, consistent with the fiduciary’s duty of impartiality and the purposes of the trust, estate, or guardianship. Whether investments are underproductive or overproductive of income shall be judged by the portfolio as a whole and not as to any particular asset.
§ 518.11(2)
(2) The provisions of this section may be expanded, restricted, eliminated, or otherwise altered by express provisions of the governing instrument, whether the instrument was executed before or after the effective date of this section. An express provision need not refer specifically to this statute. The fiduciary is not liable to any person for the fiduciary’s reasonable reliance on those express provisions.
§ 518.11(5)
(5) This section applies to all existing and future fiduciary relationships subject to this section, but only as to acts or omissions occurring after October 1, 1993.

Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 518.11.

History. s. 6, ch. 28154, 1953; s. 2, ch. 93-257; s. 26, ch. 97-98; s. 686, ch. 97-103.

— In a Florida probate

How it applies

Section 518.11 evaluates a fiduciary's decisions at the time they were made, in light of the whole portfolio, and not by whether an investment later gained or lost value. Original preexisting investments are addressed by paragraph (1)(d): the fiduciary reviews the portfolio within a reasonable time and decides whether to retain or dispose of them, and may consider an asset's special relationship or value to the purposes of the trust or to the beneficiaries. Under subsection (2), the governing instrument can alter these rules.

Where this shows up

Pages on this site where § 518.11 does real work:

Questions people ask

Is a Florida trustee liable when investments lose money?
Not for losses alone. Florida Statute 518.11(1)(b) states that the prudent investor rule is a test of conduct and not of resulting performance. Decisions are judged by reasonable business judgment under the facts and circumstances at the time of the decision.
Does a Florida fiduciary have to diversify investments?
Yes, unless the fiduciary reasonably believes, under the circumstances, that not diversifying is in the interests of the beneficiaries and furthers the purposes of the trust, guardianship, or estate (Florida Statute 518.11(1)(c)).

Sources

Last checked: October 17, 2026

The official text
This page is a plain-English summary, verified against the 2026 Florida Statutes — it is not the statute, and it isn't legal advice for your situation.
Read § 518.11

Published by the Probate.Help editorial team.How these pages are written and checked.

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