Florida Statute 736.1004
“Attorney's fees and costs”
What it means
In trust litigation — all actions for breach of fiduciary duty or challenging how a trustee exercised (or failed to exercise) powers, plus proceedings under the trust code's modification and reformation sections, ss. 736.0410–736.0417 — the court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorney fees and guardian ad litem fees.
Subsection (2) controls who actually pays: the court, in its discretion, may direct payment from a party's interest in the trust, enter a judgment satisfied from the party's other property, or both. Fees can therefore land on a losing party personally, not just on trust assets.
- Applies to all actions for breach of fiduciary duty or challenging a trustee's exercise or non-exercise of powers.
- Also applies to proceedings under ss. 736.0410–736.0417 — the trust modification, reformation, and related sections.
- The court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorney fees and guardian ad litem fees.
- Payment source is discretionary: a party's interest in the trust, a judgment against the party's other property, or both.
How it plays out
Fee exposure shapes trust litigation more than any other single factor. Because §736.1004(2) lets the court charge fees against a party's own trust share — or enter a personal judgment — a beneficiary who litigates and loses can end up paying both sides' lawyers. We put this section on the table at the first consultation, before positions harden: it is the reason weak claims settle early and the reason strong ones get documented carefully from the start.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 736.1004 does real work:
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