South Florida Trusts Lawyer
Trusts are legal arrangements in which a grantor transfers assets to a trustee, who manages those assets for beneficiaries under the terms of a written trust instrument. Unlike a will, which takes effect only at death, a trust can operate during the grantor’s lifetime, at death, or both. For many South Florida residents, the right trust avoids probate on the funded assets, provides for incapacity, delivers protection from certain creditors, and carries planning benefits that a simple will cannot.
Our South Florida Trusts lawyer drafts trusts, advises trustees and beneficiaries, and handles trust administration for clients throughout Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties. Whether you’re creating a first trust, amending an existing one, or stepping into the role of trustee, the attorneys at Loshak Law PLLC can help you protect your assets and property. Reach out to discuss what your situation involves.
Why Choose Loshak Law PLLC for Trusts in South Florida?
A trust is a living document. The way it is drafted, funded, and administered determines whether it actually accomplishes what the grantor intended. Our estate planning attorneys in South Florida focus on drafting trusts with clear terms, funding those trusts properly, and supporting trustees through administration.
Local Legal Knowledge in South Florida
Our founder, Brandon F. Loshak, built the firm’s transactional practice to cover trusts and estate planning alongside business law and real estate work. He is admitted to the Florida and Texas bars, earned his J.D. at St. Thomas University School of Law, and holds a finance degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Brandon carries the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest recognition for legal ability and ethical standards. His finance background gives him superior insight into the valuation, investment policy, and accounting issues that come up in trust administration.
Of Counsel Evan C. Leach adds more than 13 years of practice in real estate, business law, asset protection, and complex litigation. A cum laude graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, Evan holds bar admissions in Florida and Massachusetts. His asset protection experience is directly relevant to trust drafting, where spendthrift provisions and irrevocable structures are central tools.
Integration With Broader Estate Planning
A trust is one piece of a plan. Wills, beneficiary designations, business entity structures, and lifetime gift arrangements all interact with trust terms and funding decisions. Our firm coordinates trust drafting with our wills practice, our estate and gift tax planning work, and our probate and estate administration services. For clients with operating businesses, we coordinate with business formation counsel on how entity interests are held in trust. For clients with real estate, we coordinate with residential real estate and commercial real estate counsel on retitling property into the trust.
Transparent Fee Structure
Most revocable trust drafting is handled on flat fees that cover the trust instrument, a pour-over will, and ancillary incapacity documents. Irrevocable trusts and ongoing administration work are typically handled hourly, with the scope and budget discussed up front. Clients have worked with our office on matters involving millions of dollars in assets.
What Clients Say
★★★★★
“Loshak Law (Brandon and Deborah) went above and beyond to help me with closing this deal. They were recommended from a trusted friend and Im so thankful that I used their services. They were always available, on top of everything at all times, and got things finalized much faster than I expected. Definitely recommend and will definitely be using them again.” – Joshua Berney
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Types of Trusts Cases We Handle in South Florida
Trusts come in many forms, each designed to accomplish a specific set of objectives. The right trust for a particular client depends on the assets, the family structure, the timeline, and the planning goals.
- Revocable living trusts. The most common planning trust for Florida residents. Holds assets during the grantor’s lifetime, avoids probate on funded assets, and distributes at death according to the trust terms. The grantor retains the ability to modify or revoke the trust during life.
- Irrevocable trusts. Trusts that cannot be freely modified or revoked once created, used to remove assets from the grantor’s taxable estate, provide long-term management structure, or establish creditor protection for beneficiaries.
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs). Trusts that hold life insurance policies outside the grantor’s taxable estate. Structured with specific annual exclusion gift mechanics so premiums funding the trust qualify for the gift tax annual exclusion.
- Special needs trusts. Trusts designed to hold assets for a beneficiary with a disability without disqualifying the beneficiary from means-tested government benefits such as SSI and Medicaid.
- Spendthrift trusts. Trusts with statutory spendthrift language that restricts the beneficiary’s ability to assign future distributions and restricts creditors from reaching trust assets.
- Pet trusts. Florida specifically authorizes trusts for the care of an animal. We draft pet trusts with trustee selection, care instructions, and remainder beneficiary designations.
- Charitable remainder and charitable lead trusts. Trusts with split-interest structures that divide benefit between charity and individual beneficiaries, used for coordinated income, gift, and estate tax planning.
- Grantor trusts. Trusts treated as owned by the grantor for income tax purposes while being effective for gift and estate tax purposes, often used for advanced transfer planning such as sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts.
- Trust funding and retitling. Transferring real estate, financial accounts, business interests, and personal property into the trust, which is where many trust plans actually fail when the document is signed but funding is never completed.
- Trust administration. Advising trustees through the full administration of a trust after the grantor’s incapacity or death, including notices to beneficiaries, accountings, and distributions.
- Trustee representation. Representing successor trustees and corporate trustees on fiduciary matters including discretionary distributions.
Florida Legal Requirements for Trusts
Florida’s law of trusts is codified primarily in the Florida Trust Code at Chapter 736 of the Florida Statutes. The Trust Code follows the Uniform Trust Code structure with Florida-specific variations, and it covers creation, validity, modification, termination, trustee duties, and beneficiary rights.
Creation requirements are set out in § 736.0402 of the Florida Statutes. A trust is created only if the settlor has capacity, indicates an intent to create a trust, identifies a definite beneficiary (with specific exceptions for charitable trusts, trusts for the care of an animal, and certain noncharitable trusts), provides duties for the trustee, and avoids a situation in which the same person is the sole trustee and sole beneficiary. For revocable trusts, formalities similar to those for wills apply when the trust will direct disposition of assets at death.
Spendthrift protection is governed by § 736.0501 and related sections. A valid spendthrift provision restricts both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary’s interest and provides meaningful creditor protection for the beneficiary, with some statutory exceptions including support claims from former spouses and children and claims of the United States or Florida.
Trustee duties are set out throughout Part VIII of the Florida Trust Code. Section 736.0801 imposes a general duty to administer the trust in good faith, in accordance with the trust terms and applicable law, and solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. Section 736.0813 imposes a duty to inform and account to qualified beneficiaries, including providing notice of the trustee’s acceptance of the trusteeship, providing a copy of the trust instrument upon reasonable request, and furnishing trust accountings at least annually.
Modification and termination rules are found in Part IV of the code. Section 736.0412 allows nonjudicial modification of an irrevocable trust with the consent of the trustee and all qualified beneficiaries, subject to specific limitations. Judicial modification is available under other Part IV sections for changed circumstances, tax objectives, or other specific grounds.
Federal tax consequences apply separately from state trust law. Income tax treatment depends on whether the trust is a grantor trust, simple trust, or complex trust. Estate and gift tax treatment depends on the grantor’s retained rights and the structure of the trust at death.
Important Aspects of a South Florida Trusts Case
Drafting, funding, and administering a trust involves a predictable set of components. A South Florida trusts attorney works through each of these with the grantor and, later, with the trustee.
Grantor Intent and Trust Purposes
Every trust begins with the grantor’s objectives. Avoiding probate, supporting a spouse, providing for minor children, protecting assets from creditors, creating structure for a family business, reducing estate tax exposure, and supporting charitable causes are all valid trust purposes. The drafting decisions flow from those objectives, so clarifying and documenting them at the start shapes everything that follows.
Trustee Selection and Powers
The trustee is the person or institution who actually administers the trust. Individual trustees offer familiarity and lower cost. Corporate trustees offer professional administration, continuity, and investment management. Co-trustees can combine these attributes. The trust instrument also defines the trustee’s powers and any directed trust provisions that allocate decision-making among trustees, trust directors, and trust protectors.
Beneficiary Rights and Distribution Standards
Distribution standards range from mandatory distributions on specified schedules to purely discretionary distributions based on broad standards such as health, education, maintenance, and support. The standard chosen affects creditor protection, tax treatment, and the relationship between trustee and beneficiary.
Trust Funding and Retitling Assets
A trust only controls assets that are actually retitled into it. Bank accounts, brokerage accounts, real estate, and business interests all need to be retitled in the name of the trust or, in some cases, passed to the trust through beneficiary designation. Funding is often where plans break down, and it typically requires coordinated work with banks, brokerage firms, title companies, and transfer agents.
Trust Administration and Accountings
After the trust becomes irrevocable, whether through the grantor’s death, incapacity, or as originally drafted, the trustee owes duties to qualified beneficiaries. These include notices, recordkeeping, annual or more frequent accountings, and coordination with tax return preparation. Good administration practices reduce the risk of later beneficiary dispute.
Modification, Termination, and Decanting
Irrevocable trusts are not always immutable. Florida law provides nonjudicial modification procedures, judicial modification procedures, termination for uneconomic trusts, reformation to correct mistakes, modification to achieve tax objectives, and decanting from one trust into another. The availability of these tools is important for long-term trusts that may need to adapt over decades.
Contact Loshak Law PLLC
If you’re creating a first trust, considering whether to move assets into an existing trust, stepping into the role of trustee, or evaluating whether your current trust still fits your objectives, early legal involvement helps build documents and administration practices that actually work. Our South Florida trusts lawyer serves clients throughout Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties from offices in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. Contact us to schedule a consultation. During that first conversation, we will review your objectives, identify the trust structures that fit, and discuss fees openly. Put the experience of the attorneys at Loshak Law PLLC to work on your trust planning.
