Florida Statute 736.0403
“Trusts created in other jurisdictions; formalities required for revocable trusts”
What it means
A trust created somewhere else is valid here if it complied with the law of the place it was executed or of the settlor's domicile at the time. Then comes the rule out-of-state drafters miss.
Under subsection (2)(b), the testamentary aspects of a revocable trust — the provisions disposing of trust property on or after the settlor's death, other than to the settlor's estate — are invalid unless a settlor domiciled in Florida executed the trust with the formalities required for a will: the settlor's signature with two attesting witnesses (§732.502). Trusts of Florida real property must also satisfy §689.05.
- A trust is validly created if it complies with the law of the place of execution or the settlor's domicile at creation.
- For a Florida-domiciled settlor, a revocable trust's testamentary aspects are invalid without will formalities — signature plus two attesting witnesses.
- “Testamentary aspects” means the provisions disposing of trust property on or after the settlor's death, other than to the settlor's estate.
- Retirement-plan trusts — IRC s. 401, 403, and 408 plans and Keogh plans — are exempt from the two-witness rule.
- The rule reaches trusts created on or after the Trust Code's effective date (July 1, 2007); former §737.111 continues to govern older trusts.
How it plays out
This is the Florida trap for people who move here with a trust signed in a no-witness state: the lifetime provisions work, but the who-inherits-at-death provisions may not, and nobody finds out until the settlor has died. Two habits from our practice: every amendment gets full will formalities, because an amendment carries testamentary aspects too; and a notary alone is not a substitute — §732.502 requires two witnesses, and notarization is what makes a document self-proving, not what makes it valid.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 736.0403 does real work: