Where this sits
A Florida trust proceeding begins with a complaint and is governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. That is section 736.0201(1), and our page on it explains why filing a petition instead has cost people appeals.
Service follows the same logic. Subsection (1) of this section says that, except as otherwise provided in it, service of process upon any person may be made as provided in chapter 48. So the starting point is the ordinary law of service, not something special for trusts.
The gate, and it is narrow
Where only in rem or quasi in rem relief is sought against a person in a matter involving a trust, service of process on that person may be made by sending a copy of the summons and complaint by any commercial delivery service requiring a signed receipt or by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt.
Section 736.02025(2), Florida Statutes.
The word doing the work is only. In rem and quasi in rem relief is relief directed at property or at a person’s interest in property, rather than at the person. Ask a court to declare who is entitled to trust property and you are in that territory. Ask for a money judgment against someone personally and you are not, and this subsection is unavailable.
That limit is not an accident. Personal jurisdiction over a person requires more than posting them a document, and the statute confines the relaxed method to proceedings where nothing personal is being demanded.
Service is complete on signing of a receipt by the addressee or by anyone authorised under chapter 48 to receive a summons for them. Proof is by verified statement, with the signed receipt or other satisfactory evidence of delivery attached.
The fallback ladder
Signed receipt delivery fails often, and usually because the recipient does not want it. Subsection (3) allows first class mail in three defined circumstances.
- Unavailability. Registered or certified mail to the addressee is unavailable, and delivery by commercial delivery service is also unavailable.
- Refusal. Delivery is attempted and refused by the addressee.
- Unclaimed. Delivery requiring a signed receipt is unclaimed after the delivering entity gives notice to the addressee.
Each has a factual predicate, and subsection (4) requires it to be stated. The verified statement must give the basis for service by first class mail, the date of mailing, and the address to which the mail was sent. A verified statement that simply asserts mailing does not satisfy it.
The refusal ground is the practically important one, because it means a recipient cannot defeat service by declining to sign.
The one decision to mention it
In 2014 the Fourth District decided whether a proceeding to review fees paid to a personal representative or trustee requires service by formal notice under the Florida Probate Rules. Mapping the alternatives, it identified where each route leads.
If the fee review proceeding is filed in a probate proceeding, the Florida Probate Rules regarding formal notice apply. § 736.0206(6), Fla. Stat. If the fee review proceeding is not filed in the settlor’s probate proceeding, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and service of process procedure under Chapter 48, Florida Statutes, apply. See §§ 736.0201(1), 736.02025, Fla. Stat. (2014).
Kozinski v. Stabenow, 152 So. 3d 650 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), No. 4D14-1056.
That is a supporting citation rather than an interpretation. The court does not construe a word of this section. But it places it accurately, and it is the only judicial notice the section has received. Our page on section 736.0206 covers what that appeal actually decided.
Where this section came from
This is the newest section in Part II by a decade. It was created in 2013, and the same act repealed section 736.0205, which had governed the dismissal of proceedings concerning trusts registered or administered in another state.
That is worth knowing for two reasons. It explains why the numbering in Part II looks irregular, with 736.02025 sitting between 736.0202 and 736.0203 and no 736.0205 at all. And it means anything you read citing section 736.0205 predates 2013 and is describing a provision that no longer exists.
What remains open
Because no court has construed the section, its edges are untested. What counts as only in rem or quasi in rem relief where a complaint pleads several counts. Whether a defect in the verified statement is fatal or curable. And what evidence is satisfactory to the court where no signed receipt exists.
We report the absence of authority as our own review rather than as a certainty.