Giacalone-Mount v. Jill J. Burzynski, Esq.

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Giacalone-Mount v. Jill J. Burzynski, Esq.

189 So. 3d 213, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 2854, 2016 WL 759304

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedFebruary 26, 2016

Docket2D15-2052

StatusPublished

This text of 189 So. 3d 213 (Giacalone-Mount v. Jill J. Burzynski, Esq.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Giacalone-Mount v. Jill J. Burzynski, Esq., 189 So. 3d 213, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 2854, 2016 WL 759304 (Fla. Ct. App. 2016).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The cotrustees of the Ronald J. Mount Revocable Trust (the Trust), Rene A. Gia-calone-Mount and Heather J. Mount, appeal a nonfinal order entered on March 31, 2015, in a nonadversarial guardianship proceeding in which Ronald J. Mount was the Ward. The order on appeal, which was entered on a motion filed by the Ward’s court-appointed counsel, compels the co-trustees to return trust funds held in the escrow account of the Stern & Kilcullen law firm to the Trust’s primary bank account at Wells Fargo Private Banks, N.A. We reverse the order. In the absence of an action properly commenced by the guardianship against the cotrustees, the Ward’s beneficial interest in the trust does not afford the guardianship court the authority to override the decisions of the cotrustees in the management of the trust. See Cohen v. Friedland, 450 So.2d 905, 906 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (“In the absence of proof that the trustee has failed to per? form, or has performed arbitrarily, a court is without authority to remove trust assets from control of the trustee to be administered by the court or other guardian.”); see also Covenant Trust Co. v. Guardianship of Ihrman, 45 So.3d 499, 505-06 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010).

We therefore reverse the March 31, 2015, order in its entirety.

Reversed; remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

ALTENBERND, SLEET, and BADALAMENTI, JJ., Concur.

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PER CURIAM.

The cotrustees of the Ronald J. Mount Revocable Trust (the Trust), Rene A. Gia-calone-Mount and Heather J. Mount, appeal a nonfinal order entered on March 31, 2015, in a nonadversarial guardianship proceeding in which Ronald J. Mount was the Ward. The order on appeal, which was entered on a motion filed by the Ward’s court-appointed counsel, compels the co-trustees to return trust funds held in the escrow account of the Stern & Kilcullen law firm to the Trust’s primary bank account at Wells Fargo Private Banks, N.A. We reverse the order. In the absence of an action properly commenced by the guardianship against the cotrustees, the Ward’s beneficial interest in the trust does not afford the guardianship court the authority to override the decisions of the cotrustees in the management of the trust. See Cohen v. Friedland, 450 So.2d 905, 906 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (“In the absence of proof that the trustee has failed to per? form, or has performed arbitrarily, a court is without authority to remove trust assets from control of the trustee to be administered by the court or other guardian.”); see also Covenant Trust Co. v. Guardianship of Ihrman, 45 So.3d 499, 505-06 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010).

We therefore reverse the March 31, 2015, order in its entirety.

Reversed; remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

ALTENBERND, SLEET, and BADALAMENTI, JJ., Concur.

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189 So. 3d 213, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 2854, 2016 WL 759304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giacalone-mount-v-jill-j-burzynski-esq-fladistctapp-2016.

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