How Much Can a Trustee Charge in Florida?
Florida law says a trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances. Market custom runs 0.75% to 1.5% of trust assets per year. Most Florida fees land somewhere in that band.
Florida trustee fee at a glance
Fee basis
Reasonable compensation, statutory standard
Customary range
$1,875 to $75,000/yr by trust size
Court involvement
No pre-approval needed
- $250,000 trust$1,875 – $3,750
- $750,000 trusttypical$5,625 – $11,250
- $2,000,000 trust$15,000 – $30,000
- $5,000,000 trust$37,500 – $75,000
FL rates preloaded — free, no login.
Three people usually land on this page. A successor trustee who never asked for the job and now needs to know what they may take. A family member deciding whether to charge anything at all. And a beneficiary checking whether the fee the trustee planned to draw is fair. One statute answers all three. This page walks through it in plain terms, including a look at what are trust minutes and why a written record of the fee decision matters.
The rule Florida actually applies
The governing law is Fla. Stat. § 736.0708, part of the Florida Trust Code. You can read the full text on the Florida Legislature’s site. It works like this:
- Subsection (1), the default right. If the terms of the trust do not specify the trustee’s compensation, a trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances.
- Subsection (2), the court’s adjustment role. The court may allow more or less than the instrument specifies. That happens when duties turned out substantially different from those contemplated, or when the specified amount is unreasonably low or high.
- Subsection (3), extra services. Beyond the baseline, the trustee may get separate additional reasonable compensation for other services connected with administration.
- Subsection (4), the drafting-attorney rule. An attorney who drafted or supervised the trust (or a person related to them) takes no trustee compensation. There are two exceptions: they are related to the settlor, or they gave three specific pre-execution disclosures and the settlor signed a separate written acknowledgment.
And to be direct about the thing most people come here asking: Florida does not publish a percentage schedule for trustee compensation. No statute sets a percent of assets, and no statute lists the factors courts weigh. Any figure you hear, including the customary band this page uses, is market practice. It is not something a judge is obligated to copy.
What that looks like at four trust sizes
These are arithmetic illustrations of the customary band, not statutory amounts. Each card shows the trust size, the 0.75% low end, and the 1.5% high end.
Based on Florida customary practice. Not statutory.
Typical Florida family trust. Not statutory.
Based on Florida customary practice. Not statutory.
Based on Florida customary practice. Not statutory.
If you are the family trustee
In practice, family trustees in Florida do one of two things. They charge a fee and document it, or they waive the fee and document the waiver. Both are common, and neither is wrong. Many successor trustees charge when the work is real and recurring. Others waive because the trust is going to people they love, and they would rather not touch the money.
Waiving is usually treated as final. Courts generally treat a knowing waiver as binding, so if you are leaning that way, pause and check with an attorney before waiving, especially if the trust will pay you back in some other form later. If you charge instead, write the decision down. Our family trustee compensation guide covers how to document the choice, and the trust minutes template shows the fee-approval section ready to fill in.
Three Florida rules people miss
Most fee disputes trace back to ignoring one of these rules.
- The lawyer who drafted the trust usually cannot take a fee. Under subsection (4), the drafting attorney (or a related person) is barred from trustee compensation in most cases. The exceptions: they are related to the settlor, or the three pre-execution disclosures were given and the settlor signed a separate written acknowledgment. This is the most contested sentence in the whole statute, so lawyers read it closely.
- Extra services are billed separately.Subsection (3) is explicit: ordinary duties draw the baseline fee, and other services in connection with administration earn separate additional reasonable compensation. Don’t let anyone tell you a contested accounting or a complex property sale has to be absorbed into the annual fee.
- The court adjusts, it does not pre-approve. Subsection (2) gives the court a role when there is a dispute. The trigger is duties substantially different from those contemplated, or a specified amount unreasonably low or high. Nothing in the statute requires you to petition for approval before taking a fee. To see how the fee decision gets recorded, start with how to write trust minutes.
Run your numbers right here
Enter the trust's approximate size — this page uses Florida's customary annual range (FL rates locked).
Estimated annual fee in Florida
$1,875 – $3,750
Florida: Fla. Stat. Sec. 736.0708. Reasonable compensation under the circumstances. No statutory percentage or factor list; other services separately compensable. Customary 0.75–1.5% of assets.
Florida trustee fee FAQ
Does Florida law set a percentage a trustee can charge?
No. Florida has no statutory percentage schedule for trustee fees. Under Fla. Stat. § 736.0708(1), a trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances when the trust terms do not set the amount. The 0.75% to 1.5% of assets per year you often see quoted is market custom among Florida fiduciaries, not a rule written into law. Run your Florida numbers above to see the customary band for your trust size.
Is it reasonable to charge a fee when the trust says nothing about it?
Yes. When the trust instrument is silent, subsection (1) of § 736.0708 supplies the default right to reasonable compensation. You do not need a paragraph in the trust authorizing a fee. The practical step is to document what you did and how you set the fee in your minutes so the amount can be defended later. Run your Florida numbers above to see the customary band for your trust size.
Do I need the court's approval before taking my fee?
No. Florida does not require a trustee to file anything or see a judge before paying themselves. That widespread idea is a misconception. The court's role under § 736.0708(2) is to adjust compensation on dispute, when the duties turned out substantially different from what the trust contemplated or the specified amount is unreasonably low or high. Run your Florida numbers above to see the customary band for your trust size.
Can the lawyer who drafted the trust also serve as trustee and charge a fee?
Usually not. Subsection (4) of § 736.0708 bars the drafting attorney, or a person related to them, from taking trustee compensation unless they are related to the settlor or gave three specific pre-execution disclosures and obtained the settlor's separate written acknowledgment. If you planned to pay a lawyer-trustee, make sure the disclosure-and-acknowledgment record exists before the fee is taken. Run your Florida numbers above to see the customary band for your trust size.
Are extra services like selling property billed on top of the annual fee?
They can be. Subsection (3) of § 736.0708 lets a trustee take separate additional reasonable compensation for services beyond ordinary administration, so an unusual project (litigation support, contested accountings) is not automatically folded into the baseline fee. The extra charge still has to be reasonable under the circumstances. Run your Florida numbers above to see the customary band for your trust size.
How Florida compares
Florida sits with the majority of states on a reasonableness standard rather than a fixed schedule. Here is a slice of the full national table.
| State | Statute | Structure | Customary band | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Fla. Stat. § 736.0708 | Reasonableness, no schedule | 0.75 to 1.5% customary | Florida is the state this page covers |
| California | Cal. Prob. Code §§ 15680–15681 | Reasonableness, no schedule | 1 to 1.5% customary | |
| New York | N.Y. SCPA § 2309 | Statutory commissions | ~0.5 to 1% effective | |
| Texas | Tex. Prop. Code § 114.061 | Reasonableness, no schedule | 0.5 to 1% customary | |
| Arizona | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-10708 | Reasonableness, no schedule | 0.5 to 1% customary |
Where TrustMinutes fits
Whatever fee you land on, your trust administration file should show how you got there. Trust record keeping requirements apply to the fee decision like any other. The state-specific side you can read about in our guide to trust minutes requirements in Florida.
TrustMinutes writes one meeting’s minutes free. If your trust needs ongoing governance (distributions, records, year after year), TrustOffice is the paid platform built for that. Take a look at trustoffice.app.
Some fees end up contested. Our sister service WingPoint takes trust administration end to end, and it’s living at wingpointtrust.com.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice for your specific trust. For guidance on a live matter, see our disclaimer and consult a Florida estate-planning attorney.
Updated October 2026.