Florida Statute 736.0503
“Exceptions to spendthrift provision”
What it means
Three classes of claimants can get past a valid spendthrift clause: a beneficiary's child, spouse, or former spouse holding a judgment or court order for support or maintenance; a judgment creditor who provided services to protect the beneficiary's interest in the trust; and claims of Florida or the United States, to the extent a state or federal law provides.
Even these claimants do not open the trust itself. The remedy is a court order attaching present or future distributions, the court may limit the relief, and for the support and services classes it is available only as a last resort — after an initial showing that traditional collection methods are insufficient. And §736.0504 still bars them from compelling a discretionary distribution.
- "Child" includes any person with a child-support order entered in Florida or any other state.
- A child, spouse, or former spouse with a support or maintenance judgment can attach trust distributions.
- So can a judgment creditor who provided services protecting the beneficiary's interest in the trust.
- Florida and federal claims get through only to the extent a state or federal law so provides.
- The remedy is an order attaching present or future distributions — the court may limit it to what is appropriate.
- For support and services claimants the order is a last resort, available only after showing traditional enforcement is insufficient.
How it plays out
When a trust we administer has a beneficiary who owes back child support or alimony, §736.0503 is the statute we pull first. The support creditor does not take over the trust — the remedy attaches distributions, and only after ordinary collection has failed. The services exception surprises trustees too: the lawyer who defended a beneficiary's trust interest can reach through the clause to be paid. What changes is the payment path, not the trust.
Questions people ask
