Luke Johnson, as Trustee of the Doris Linda Trapnell Living Trust Dated October 15, 2013 v. Jessica Wolter, as Benificiary of the Doris Linda Trapnell Living Trust Dated October 15, 2013, and Jeffery Allen Trapnell

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: December 5, 2025
• Docket: 6D2024-0812
• Status: Published

Opinion

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 6D2024-0812 Lower Tribunal No. 22-CA-000599 _____________________________

LUKE JOHNSON, as Trustee of the DORIS LINDA TRAPNELL LIVING TRUST DATED OCTOBER 15, 2013,

Appellant,

v.

JESSICA WOLTER, as beneficiary of the DORIS LINDA TRAPNELL LIVING TRUST DATED OCTOBER 15, 2013, and JEFFERY ALLEN TRAPNELL,

Appellees. _____________________________

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lee County. Joseph Fuller, Judge.

December 5, 2025

GANNAM, J.

Luke Johnson, as trustee of the Doris Linda Trapnell Living Trust, prevailed

in a breach of trust action brought by trust beneficiary Jessica Wolter. The final

judgment provides that “[e]ach party shall be responsible for their own respective

attorney’s fees and costs” and that the trial court “reserves jurisdiction to enter

further orders as it deems necessary.” Wolter filed a motion to enforce the final

judgment, claiming that Johnson’s final trust accounting revealed he “is not bearing his own attorney’s fees but charging those fees to the trust.” The trial court granted

the motion after a hearing, concluding, “If Luke Johnson, as the Trustee, were to be

permitted to pay his attorney’s fees from trust funds, such action would not be in

compliance with the Final Judgment,” and ordering, “Johnson shall pay his own

attorney’s fees and costs and is not permitted to pay his attorney’s fees and costs

from trust funds.”

Johnson appeals the enforcement order, claiming the final judgment and

Florida Trust Code entitle him to pay from trust assets his attorneys’ fees and costs

incurred in his successful defense of Wolter’s breach of trust action. 1 We review de

novo the trial court’s interpretation of its final judgment and the trust statutes. See

Boynton v. Canal Auth., 311 So. 2d 412, 415 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975) (“The legal

operation and effect of a judgment must be ascertained by a construction and

interpretation of its terms, and this presents a question of law for the Court.” (citing

Zalka v. Zalka, 100 So. 2d 157 (Fla. 1958))); Orosco v. Rodriguez, 376 So. 3d 92,

94 (Fla. 6th DCA 2023) (“[A] trial court's interpretation and application of a statute

1 The enforcement order is a final order for purposes of our jurisdiction under rule 9.030(b)(1)(A). See Clearwater Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Sampson, 336 So. 2d 78, 79 (Fla. 1976) (“Where an order after judgment is dispositive of any question, it becomes a final post decretal order. To the extent that it completes the judicial labor on that portion of the cause after judgment, it becomes final as to that portion and should be treated as a final judgment . . . .”).

2 is reviewed de novo.”). Because the trial court imposed a new restriction on Johnson

that is contrary to the Florida Trust Code and not in the final judgment, we reverse.

Under the Florida Trust Code, ch. 736, Fla. Stat., when a pleading asserting

a breach of trust claim is “withdrawn, dismissed, or judicially resolved in the trial

court without a determination that the trustee has committed a breach of trust,” the

trustee who successfully defended the breach of trust claim “is authorized to use trust

assets to pay attorney fees and costs” incurred in the defense without notice to

beneficiaries or order of the court. § 736.0802(10)(g), Fla. Stat. (2023). Under

section 736.0201(6)(a), such payment “does not constitute taxation of costs or

attorney fees” requiring a motion under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525. The

final judgment’s provision that “[e]ach party shall be responsible for their own

respective attorney’s fees and costs” prohibits Johnson from recovering his

attorneys’ fees and costs from Wolter by way of a rule 1.525 motion, and vice versa.

But the fee provision in the judgment does not prohibit Johnson, as trustee, from

paying his own attorney’s fees and costs from trust assets without notice or court

approval as expressly authorized by the Florida Trust Code.

The trial court’s reservation of jurisdiction to enforce the final judgment does

not authorize the court to impose a new restriction on Johnson’s payment of his

attorneys from trust assets that is not stated in the final judgment. See Superior

Uniforms, Inc. v. Brown, 221 So. 2d 214, 215 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969) (“A court has the

3 power to enforce its judgments by appropriate action . . . . But it does not have the

power to impose upon a party a new duty not previously adjudicated.” (citing

Augusta Corp. v. Strawn, 174 So. 2d 621, 624 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965))). Accordingly,

we reverse the order on appeal and remand for the trial court to enter an order

denying Wolter’s enforcement motion.

REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions.

WOZNIAK and SMITH, JJ., concur.

T. Brandon Mace, of Kemp & Mace, P.A., Fort Myers, for Appellant.

Richard M. Ricciardi, Jr., of Your Advocates, P.A., Fort Myers, for Appellee, Jessica Wolter, as beneficiary of the Doris Linda Trapnell Living Trust dated October 15, 2013.

No Appearance for Appellee, Jeffery Allen Trapnell.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED