Accountings: Non-Beneficiaries, Who Stand to Gain If the Trust Is Invalidated, May Object to the Accounting.

The decedent’s children brought an action to invalidate the decedent’s will and revocable trust. The children sued the trustee for mismanagement of the trust. The trial court dismissed the children’s complaint for lack of standing because they were not beneficiaries of the trust. The appellate court reversed the lower court based on Fla. Stat. Sec 736.08164, which prohibits a trustee from acting “in contravention of rights of those persons who may be affected by” pending litigation. The appellate court held, that the children have standing because they would inherit the trust property if the court invalidated the trust. Cruz v. Community Bank and Trust of Florida, 227 So. Ed 1095 (Fla Dist Ct App. 2019).