Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1304
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì848676\Î848676                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/31/2022           .                                
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Gruters) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 19 - 61
    4  and insert:
    5         662.1465 Confidentiality of family trust company
    6  proceedings and other filings.—In trust proceedings in which a
    7  family trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign
    8  licensed family trust company is a party, the identities of
    9  those who establish, administer, or benefit from a trust and any
   10  information relating to the trust are confidential and exempt
   11  from s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution and must be
   12  protected in any court proceeding or filing related to the
   13  trust. The court shall seal any document filed with the court in
   14  a trust proceeding in which a family trust company, licensed
   15  family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company
   16  is a party, including, but not limited to, the instrument on
   17  which the trust is based; any petitions, briefs, or inventories;
   18  any statement or report filed by a fiduciary; any court orders;
   19  and any other document in the court case file. The court may not
   20  release to the public any of the sealed documents or information
   21  contained therein, but shall make them available to the
   22  following individuals:
   23         (1) The settlor.
   24         (2) Any fiduciary for the trust.
   25         (3) Any beneficiary of the trust.
   26         (4) An attorney for the settlor, a fiduciary, or a
   27  beneficiary of the trust.
   28         (5) Any other person if, upon a showing of a specific
   29  interest in the trust or a transaction relating to the trust or
   30  an asset held or previously held by the trust, the court
   31  determines there is a compelling need for releasing the
   32  information requested.
   33         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   34  necessity that trust proceedings involving family trust
   35  companies, licensed family trust companies, or foreign licensed
   36  family trust companies be made confidential and exempt from s.
   37  24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. Public disclosure in
   38  such trust proceedings of information relating to the clients,
   39  family members, members, or stockholders of a family trust
   40  company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed
   41  family trust company would vitiate other protections granted by
   42  law to such companies and their constituents. In addition, such
   43  trust proceedings often involve large sums of money or
   44  vulnerable people who could be targeted for exploitation or
   45  abuse. Public disclosure of sensitive family and financial
   46  information in trust proceedings can result in specific harm to
   47  beneficiaries and other interested parties in these cases.
   48  Therefore, the Legislature finds that the need to protect the
   49  identities of beneficiaries of trusts for which a family trust
   50  company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed
   51  family trust company is a trustee and the sensitive financial
   52  information contained in