(1) Upon the application of a trustee of the trust or any qualified beneficiary, a court at any time may modify the terms of a trust that is not then revocable in the manner provided in subsection (2), if:
(a) The purposes of the trust have been fulfilled or have become illegal, impossible, wasteful, or impracticable to fulfill;
(b) Because of circumstances not anticipated by the settlor, compliance with the terms of the trust would defeat or substantially impair the accomplishment of a material purpose of the trust; or
(c) A material purpose of the trust no longer exists.
(2) In modifying a trust under this section, a court may:
(a) Amend or change the terms of the trust, including terms governing distribution of the trust income or principal or terms governing administration of the trust;
(b) Terminate the trust in whole or in part;
(c) Direct or permit the trustee to do acts that are not authorized or that are prohibited by the terms of the trust; or
(d) Prohibit the trustee from performing acts that are permitted or required by the terms of the trust.
(3) In exercising discretion to modify a trust under this section:
(a) The court shall consider the terms and purposes of the trust, the facts and circumstances surrounding the creation of the trust, and extrinsic evidence relevant to the proposed modification.
(b) The court shall consider spendthrift provisions as a factor in making a decision, but the court is not precluded from modifying a trust because the trust contains spendthrift provisions.
(4) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in derogation of, rights under the common law to modify, amend, terminate, or revoke trusts.
History.—s. 4, ch. 2006-217.
Structure Florida Statutes
Title XLII - Estates and Trusts
Chapter 736 - Florida Trust Code
Part IV - Creation, Validity, Modification, and Termination (Ss. 736.0401-736.0417)
736.0401 - Methods of creating trust.
736.0402 - Requirements for creation.
736.0403 - Trusts created in other jurisdictions; formalities required for revocable trusts.
736.0405 - Charitable purposes; enforcement.
736.0406 - Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence.
736.0407 - Evidence of oral trust.
736.0408 - Trust for care of an animal.
736.0409 - Noncharitable trust without ascertainable beneficiary.
736.0410 - Modification or termination of trust; proceedings for disapproval of nonjudicial acts.
736.04114 - Limited judicial construction of irrevocable trust with federal tax provisions.
736.04117 - Trustee’s power to invade principal in trust.
736.0412 - Nonjudicial modification of irrevocable trust.
736.0414 - Modification or termination of uneconomic trust.
736.0415 - Reformation to correct mistakes.
736.0416 - Modification to achieve settlor’s tax objectives.