IN RE GUARDIANSHIP OF RONALD J. MOUNT. RENE A. GIACALONE-MOUNT AND HEATHER J. MOUNT, AS COTRUSTEES OF THE RONALD J. MOUNT REVOCABLE TRUST, APPELLANTS,
v.
JILL J. BURZYNSKI, ESQ., AS COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL OF RONALD J. MOUNT; IAN MOUNT; AND THERESA SCHULTZ, IN HER CAPACITY AS EMERGENCY TEMPORARY GUARDIAN OF RONALD J. MOUNT, APPELLEES
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Florida appellate court reversed an order compelling cotrustees to return trust funds to the primary bank account, holding that a guardianship court lacks authority to override trustee decisions absent a properly commenced action against the trustees.
A guardianship court cannot compel cotrustees to return trust funds or override their management decisions absent a properly commenced action against the trustees and proof of breach or arbitrary performance.
[1] A guardianship court lacks authority to compel cotrustees to return trust funds or override trustee management decisions absent a properly commenced action against the tr…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“In the absence of proof that the trustee has failed to perform, or has performed arbitrarily, a court is without authority to remove trust assets from control of the trustee to be administered by the court or other guardian.”
Court cited Cohen v. Friedland for the principle that courts lack authority to interfere with trustee control absent demonstrated breach or arbitrary conduct.
Ronald J. Mount was the ward in a guardianship proceeding. The cotrustees of his revocable trust held funds in an escrow account at a law firm. The wa…
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The cotrustees of the Ronald J. Mount Revocable Trust (the Trust), Rene A. Gia-calone-Mount and Heather J. Mount, appeal a nonfinal order entered on March 31, 2015, in a nonadversarial guardianship proceeding in which Ronald J. Mount was the Ward. The order on appeal, which was entered on a motion filed by the Ward’s court-appointed counsel, compels the co-trustees to return trust funds held in the escrow account of the Stern & Kilcullen law firm to the Trust’s primary bank account at Wells Fargo Private Banks, N.A. We reverse the order. In the absence of an action properly commenced by the guardianship against the cotrustees, the Ward’s beneficial interest in the trust does not afford the guardianship court the authority to override the decisions of the cotrustees in the management of the trust. See Cohen v. Friedland, 450 So.2d 905, 906 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (“In the absence of proof that the trustee has failed to per? form, or has performed arbitrarily, a court is without authority to remove trust assets from control of the trustee to be administered by the court or other guardian.”); see also Covenant Trust Co. v. Guardianship of Ihrman, 45 So.3d 499, 505-06 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010).
We therefore reverse the March 31, 2015, order in its entirety.
Reversed; remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
ALTENBERND, SLEET, and BADALAMENTI, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Sylvan M. Cohen v. Friedland, 450 So. 2d 905 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
- Covenant Tr. Co. v. The Guardianship OF Lillian Ihrman, 45 So. 3d 499 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)