CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.





                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS/HB 599

    Amendment No.    

                            CHAMBER ACTION
              Senate                               House
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11  Senator Laurent moved the following amendment:

12

13         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 

14         On page 2, between lines 12 and 13,

15

16  insert:

17         Section 2.  Section 737.206, Florida Statutes, is

18  amended to read:

19         737.206  Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue

20  influence.--A trust is void if the execution is procured by

21  fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence.  Any part of the

22  trust is void if so procured, but the remainder of the trust

23  not so procured is valid if it is not invalid for other

24  reasons.  An action to contest the validity of all or part of

25  a trust may not be commenced until the trust becomes

26  irrevocable.

27         Section 3.  Section 737.2065, Florida Statutes, is

28  created to read:

29         737.2065  Trust contests.--An action to contest the

30  validity of all or part of a trust may not be commenced until

31  the trust becomes irrevocable.

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS/HB 599

    Amendment No.    





 1         Section 4.  Section 737.303, Florida Statutes, is

 2  amended to read:

 3         737.303  Duty to inform and account to

 4  beneficiaries.--The trustee shall keep the beneficiaries of

 5  the trust reasonably informed of the trust and its

 6  administration. The trustee's duty to inform and account

 7  includes, but is not limited to, the following:

 8         (1)  Within 30 days after acceptance of the trust, the

 9  trustee shall inform the beneficiaries in writing of the

10  acceptance of the trust and the full name and address of the

11  trustee.

12         (2)  Upon reasonable request, the trustee shall provide

13  a beneficiary with a complete copy of the trust instrument,

14  including amendments.

15         (3)  Upon reasonable request, the trustee shall provide

16  a beneficiary with relevant information about the assets of

17  the trust and the particulars relating to administration.

18         (4)(a)  A beneficiary is entitled to a statement of the

19  accounts of the trust annually and upon termination of the

20  trust or upon change of the trustee except as provided under

21  paragraph (c).

22         (b)  For purposes of this section, the term

23  "beneficiary" means:

24         1.  All current income or principal beneficiaries,

25  whether discretionary or mandatory; and

26         2.  All reasonably ascertainable remainder

27  beneficiaries who would take if all income interests

28  immediately terminated.

29         (c)  In the case of a trust described in s. 733.707(3),

30  during the grantor's lifetime, the trustee's duties under this

31  section paragraph (a) extend only to the grantor or the legal

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS/HB 599

    Amendment No.    





 1  representative of the grantor during the grantor's lifetime.

 2         (d)  A beneficiary or the beneficiary's representative,

 3  as defined in s. 731.303, may waive, in writing, the trustee's

 4  duty to account under paragraph (a).

 5         (e)  All rights provided a beneficiary under this

 6  section may be asserted by a legal representative or natural

 7  guardian of the beneficiary. Notice under subsection (1) and a

 8  statement of accounts under paragraph (a) provided to a

 9  representative of the beneficiary as defined in s. 731.303

10  shall bind the beneficiary, and the trustee shall not be

11  required to provide such notice or statement of accounts to

12  any beneficiary who would be bound by an order binding on a

13  representative of the beneficiary under s. 731.303, if such

14  notice or statement of accounts, respectively, is provided to

15  that representative.

16         Section 5.  Section 737.625, Florida Statutes, is

17  amended to read:

18         737.625  Killer not entitled to receive property or

19  other benefits by reason of victim's death.--

20         (1)A beneficiary of a trust who unlawfully and

21  intentionally kills or unlawfully and intentionally

22  participates in procuring the death of the grantor or another

23  person upon whose death such beneficiary's interest depends,

24  shall not be entitled to any trust interest, including

25  homestead, dependent upon the victim's death, and such

26  interest shall devolve as though the killer had predeceased

27  the victim.

28         (2)  A final judgment of conviction of murder in any

29  degree is conclusive for the purposes of this section. In the

30  absence of a murder conviction in any degree, the court may

31  determine by the greater weight of the evidence whether the

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS/HB 599

    Amendment No.    





 1  killing was unlawful and intentional for purposes of this

 2  section.

 3         Section 6.  Section 737.626, Florida Statutes, is

 4  created to read:

 5         737.626  Evidence as to death or status.--In

 6  proceedings concerning trusts, this section relating to

 7  determination of death and status is applicable:

 8         (1)  An authenticated copy of a death certificate

 9  issued by an official or agency of the place where the death

10  purportedly occurred is prima facie evidence of the fact,

11  place, date, and time of death and the identity of the

12  decedent.

13         (2)  A copy of any record or report of a governmental

14  agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is alive, missing,

15  detained, or, from the facts related, presumed dead is prima

16  facie evidence of the status and of the dates, circumstances

17  and places disclosed by the record or report.

18         (3)  A person who is absent from the place of his or

19  her last known domicile for a continuous period of five years

20  and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after

21  diligent search and inquiry is presumed to be dead. The

22  person's death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the

23  period unless there is evidence establishing that death

24  occurred earlier.

25         (4)  This section does not preclude the establishment

26  of death by direct or circumstantial evidence prior to

27  expiration of the five year time period set forth in

28  subsection (3).

29

30  (Redesignate subsequent sections.)

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS/HB 599

    Amendment No.    





 1  ================ T I T L E   A M E N D M E N T ===============

 2  And the title is amended as follows:

 3         On page 1, lines 1 - 7, delete those lines

 4

 5  and insert:

 6                      A bill to be entitled

 7         An act relating to trusts; amending s. 689.225,

 8         F.S.; revising certain criteria for application

 9         of the rule against perpetuities to certain

10         trusts; specifying exclusivity of application

11         of the rule; excluding common-law expressions

12         of the rule; amending s. 737.206, F.S..;

13         removing provision governing timing for

14         contesting validity of a trust; creating s.

15         737.2065, F.S.; providing timing for contesting

16         validity of a trust; amending s. 737.303, F.S.;

17         revising duty of trustee to inform or account

18         to beneficiaries of a trust; amending s.

19         737.625, F.S.; revising prohibition against a

20         killer's entitlement to benefits from a trust;

21         creating s. 737.626, F.S.; creating a provision

22         to govern evidence as to death or status in

23         trust proceedings;

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