Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements in Florida

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Florida uses two 60-day clocks with different starting facts

Florida Statutes § 736.0813(1)(a) starts the first clock when the trustee accepts the trust. Within 60 days, the trustee gives qualified beneficiaries notice of the acceptance, the trustee's full name and address, and the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege disclosure.

Section 736.0813(1)(b) starts a separate clock when the trustee acquires knowledge that an irrevocable trust was created or that a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable, whether because the settlor died or otherwise. That notice is also due within 60 days, but its contents change: trust existence, settlor identity, the right to request the trust instrument, the right to accountings, and the privilege disclosure.

One event can make both paragraphs relevant, but the trustee should identify the start fact for each clock rather than assume that the dates are interchangeable.

The recipient class reaches three distribution horizons

Section 736.0103(19) defines a “qualified beneficiary” as a living beneficiary who is currently eligible to receive income or principal, would become eligible if the current distributees' interests ended without ending the trust, or would be eligible if the trust terminated under its terms on the determination date.

That definition is broader than current distributees alone. Section 736.0813(3) also makes the code's representation provisions apply to these rights, so a representative may matter when determining how a beneficiary's rights are handled.

Trust terms cannot erase the core notice duty

Florida's general rule lets trust terms prevail over much of the Trust Code. Section 736.0105(2)(r), however, expressly places the § 736.0813(1)(a)-(b) notice duty in the mandatory list.

That is different from a recipient's own waiver. Section 736.0109(6) permits the person entitled to notice to waive it. The written waiver in § 736.0813(2) addresses the separate duty to account, not the two initial notices.

Delivery is functional, not tied to one mailing label

Section 736.0109(1) requires a method reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt. Its examples include first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the last known residence or business, a properly directed fax or email, and secure electronic posting that satisfies the statute's additional conditions.

For electronic delivery, § 736.0109(5) treats notice as complete when sent and presumes receipt that day. If the sender knows the message did not reach the recipient, the presumption ends and the sender must prove that another copy was sent by an authorized method.

What trips people up

• The two notices do not have identical contents. The acceptance notice identifies the trustee and acceptance; the creation-or-irrevocability notice identifies the trust and settlor and explains instrument-copy and accounting rights.
• An accounting event is not a third initial-notice trigger. Section 736.0813(1)(d) requires accountings at stated times, including a trustee change; it does not label that paragraph as another initial beneficiary notice.
• Certified mail, process service, and notarization are not universal requirements. Section 736.0109 supplies a broader functional delivery rule, and the initial-notice provisions do not prescribe a sworn or notarized trustee signature.
• The pre-code exclusions are paragraph-specific. Paragraphs (a) and (b) exclude specified older trusts, while the acceptance paragraph separately excludes a trustee who accepted before the code's effective date.

Common questions

Must the trustee automatically send the full trust instrument?

No. The § 736.0813(1)(b) notice states the right to request it. Under paragraph (1)(c), the trustee must provide a complete copy to a qualified beneficiary upon a reasonable request.

What if a recipient cannot be identified or located?

Section 736.0109(2) says notice need not be provided when the person's identity or location is unknown to the trustee and not reasonably ascertainable. Florida's cited initial-notice provisions do not add a newspaper-publication substitute.

Does every future beneficiary receive the notice?

Not necessarily. The statutory class is “qualified beneficiaries,” not every person who might take under every remote contingency. Section 736.0103(19) uses the current, next-line, and trust-termination distribution tests.

While the trust is revocable, who receives these statutory duties?

Section 736.0813(4) says that, as provided in § 736.0603(1), the duties under the section extend only to the settlor while the trust is revocable. The beneficiary notice after irrevocability begins only when the paragraph's own trigger occurs.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 736.0813(1)–(4) — the two initial notices, contents, legacy exclusions, accounting waiver, representation, and revocable-settlor limitation. Official Florida Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).
• Fla. Stat. § 736.0103(19) — qualified-beneficiary definition. Official Florida Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).
• Fla. Stat. § 736.0105(1), (2)(r) — default-versus-mandatory rules and the protected core notice duty. Official Florida Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).
• Fla. Stat. § 736.0109(1)–(2), (5)–(6) — delivery standard, listed methods, unknown recipients, electronic completion, failed delivery, and waiver. Official Florida Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).