How “Trust Director” is Defined - Commentary to Florida Trust Code

Legal Commentary on the Definition of “Trust Director”

Fla. Stat. § 736.0103(25) defines the term “trust director.” The text of the subsection reads:

“Trust director” means a person who is granted a power of direction by the terms of a trust to the extent the power is exercisable while the person is not serving as a trustee. The person is a trust director whether or not the terms of the trust refer to the person as a trust director and whether or not the person is a beneficiary or settlor of the trust.

A person is a trust director if and only if that person meets two statutory requirements. First, the trust director must be granted a power of direction by the terms of the trust. A power of direction includes all powers regarding trust administration given to a non-trustee, unless the power falls under a limited list of exceptions. Second, the person must not be serving as trustee. A person cannot be both trustee and trust director at the same time.

If the two requirements above are met, then a person is a trust director regardless of whether the terms of the trust actually refer to the person as a “trust director.” Thus, the trust may give a trust director a different title—such as trust protector—or the trust may give the trust director no title at all.

In addition, a trust director can be a beneficiary of the trust or a settlor of the trust. The settlor of an irrevocable trust is especially likely to have the authority of a trust director if that settlor retains any power over trust administration.

History of the Definition of “Trust Director”

The term “Trust Director” was added to the Florida Trust Code in 2021 to complement the Florida Uniform Directed Trust Act, which was itself added to the Florida Trust Code during that same year. The term “trust director” is of great importance to the Florida Uniform Directed Trust Act, so the legislature added the term to the list of definitions at the beginning of the Trust Code. The definition has not been amended since.

The definition for “trust director” was taken verbatim from § 2(9) of the Uniform Directed Trust Act.

This article is part of the PTM Legal Commentary to the Florida Trust Code. Click here to navigate through the entire commentary.