Fiduciary Law Trends 2017Fiduciary Law Trends 2017

Annually, we learn something new in the fiduciary genre of cases following a year of fiduciary mistakes and tax issues. Over the span of last year, the following noteworthy cases highlighted trends we see evolving in the fiduciary field.

Accountings

When does a requirement to provide trust accountings apply? What’s the time period for bringing an action against the trustee? Two cases out of Florida provide some guidance.

Florida law requires that a trustee provide trust accountings to qualified beneficiaries, but states that such requirement doesn’t apply while a trust is revocable. In Hilgendorf v. Estate of Coleman,¹ a beneficiary requested trust accountings for the period that the settlor was living. The court held that an estate or bene...