“I’m sure that we can modify grandmother’s trust…….”
With the significant changes in society and the law over the years, many long term trust provisions have been what some refer to as “OBE” (overtaken by events) . To deal with situations that have become unmanageable, some jurisdictions including the State of Florida provide for the non-judicial modification of trusts. Florida Statute 736 allows the non-judicial modification of trusts: a. where the settlor is deceased and b. where all of the trustees and beneficiaries agree……maybe. If you undertake this journey, get ready for your lawyer to start talking about the “rule against perpetuities” and the 90 year rule and the 360 year rule. For many lawyers that don’t deal in trust law, I am sure “the rule against perpetuities” is something they were sure was relegated to a some pre-internet dusty tome, but it is alive and well. On the trust modification…..maybe.