Florida Statute 736.0201
“Role of court in trust proceedings”
What it means
Probate runs through the courthouse; a trust does not. Under §736.0201, a court touches trust administration only when someone invokes its jurisdiction by filing a proceeding — which proceeds as an ordinary civil action, commenced by complaint under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
Subsection (3) is the sentence that makes Florida trusts private: “A trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless ordered by the court.” Once a proceeding is filed, the court can decide essentially anything about the trust — validity, trustee appointment and removal, fees, accountings, beneficiaries, construction, and declarations of rights.
- Trust proceedings are civil actions — commenced by filing a complaint, governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
- No continuing judicial supervision of any trust unless a court orders it — subsection (3).
- The court intervenes in administration only when its jurisdiction is invoked by an interested person or as provided by law.
- Proceedings may determine validity, appoint or remove trustees, review fees, settle accounts, ascertain beneficiaries, construe the instrument, and declare rights.
- Construction of a testamentary trust — and the homestead status of trust-held real property — may be handled inside the settlor's probate case under the Probate Rules.
How it plays out
The practical meaning: administering a trust after a death is work between the trustee and the beneficiaries, not a court case — no docket, no public inventory, no judge unless something goes wrong. Most trust administrations our office handles never touch a courtroom. When one does — a removal, an accounting objection, a construction question — §736.0201 is the on-ramp, and the matter runs like any other civil suit.