Serving with a co-trustee: how Florida allocates the wheel

How decisions get made

Under §736.0703, cotrustees unable to be unanimous may act by majority. A vacancy does not stall the trust — the remaining cotrustees may generally act for the trust. And where a cotrustee is unavailable to perform functions and prompt action is necessary, the statute lets the remaining cotrustees act.

Disagreement, on the record

The statute addresses the trustee who is outvoted: a dissenting cotrustee who joins in an action at the majority's direction, and who notified any cotrustee of the dissent at or before the action, is generally not liable for the action. The pattern many co-trustee pairs adopt follows directly — deliberate openly, decide by the statute's rule, and record dissents contemporaneously.

The same section keeps a floor under everyone: each trustee generally exercises reasonable care to prevent a cotrustee from committing a serious breach and to compel redress of one. Serving together shares the wheel; it does not eliminate each trustee's own duties. How these rules interact with a particular trust's terms — some instruments allocate functions between trustees expressly — is a question for a licensed Florida attorney.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Must Florida co-trustees act unanimously?

§736.0703 generally permits majority action when cotrustees cannot reach unanimity, subject to the trust's own terms.

Is an outvoted co-trustee responsible for the majority's action?

The statute describes protection for a dissenting cotrustee who noted the dissent to a cotrustee at or before joining the action — while every trustee keeps duties around preventing and redressing serious breaches.

What happens when one co-trustee resigns or dies?

Under §736.0703 the remaining cotrustees may generally continue to act for the trust; the instrument's succession terms and §736.0704's vacancy rules govern replacements.

General information about Florida law, not legal advice.