Two routes, and only one has a dollar figure
The section is commonly described as the fifty thousand dollar rule, which is accurate about subsection (1) and misleading about the statute as a whole.
After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust consisting of trust property having a total value less than $50,000 may terminate the trust if the trustee concludes that the value of the trust property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration.
Section 736.0414(1), Florida Statutes.
That is the trustee acting alone. Notice to qualified beneficiaries, a conclusion by the trustee, and the trust ends. The Trust Code does not hand trustees many unilateral powers of that magnitude.
Subsection (2) is the court route and it is written without any threshold.
Upon application of a trustee or any qualified beneficiary, the court may modify or terminate a trust or remove the trustee and appoint a different trustee if the court determines that the value of the trust property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration.
Section 736.0414(2), Florida Statutes.
Two things follow. A trust worth more than $50,000 can still be uneconomic, and the court route remains open to it. And the remedy is not only termination. A court can modify the trust or swap out the trustee, which is often the better answer when the problem is that the current trustee is expensive rather than that the trust is pointless.
Notice and objection
The statute requires notice to qualified beneficiaries but does not, in its own text, prescribe a waiting period or a form. The right to do something about that notice comes from a different section. Section 736.0410(3) permits a proceeding to disapprove a proposed termination under section 736.0414(1), and restricts that right to qualified beneficiaries. A beneficiary too remote to be a qualified beneficiary under section 736.0103 gets neither the notice nor the standing.
The spendthrift rule, and how to opt out
The existence of a spendthrift provision in the trust does not make this section inapplicable unless the trust instrument expressly provides that the trustee may not terminate the trust pursuant to this section.
Section 736.0414(4), Florida Statutes.
Read that carefully if you are drafting. A general spendthrift clause does nothing here. What works is an express statement that the trustee may not terminate under this section, and a settlor who wants small trusts to survive regardless of economics needs that language in the instrument.
Subsection (5) excludes easements for conservation or preservation, which are frequently low in book value and would otherwise be exposed to termination by a trustee applying a purely economic test.
No Florida court has construed this section
We searched the Florida state courts, the Florida federal district and bankruptcy courts, and the Eleventh Circuit for decisions citing section 736.0414. The search returned nothing. We state that as the result of our own review rather than as a certainty, and it is a finding worth publishing, because a trustee exercising a unilateral termination power is doing so without any appellate guidance on the questions the statute leaves open.
Those questions are not hypothetical. When is the trust valued, at the date of the notice or the date of termination? How much notice is enough? What does a trustee have to do to have “concluded” that administration costs are unjustified, and can that conclusion be reviewed for reasonableness or only for bad faith? Does subsection (3)’s direction to distribute consistently with the trust’s purposes constrain who receives the property, when the trust’s remainder provisions assumed the trust would run for years? None of this has been answered in a Florida appellate decision.
Section 736.0414 has never been amended since its enactment in 2006.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Florida trustee terminate a small trust without going to court?
Yes. Section 736.0414(1) allows a trustee, after notice to the qualified beneficiaries, to terminate a trust holding property worth less than $50,000 if the trustee concludes the value is insufficient to justify the cost of administration. No court order is required.
Is there a dollar limit if you go to court instead?
No. Subsection (2) lets a court modify or terminate a trust, or remove and replace the trustee, on the application of a trustee or any qualified beneficiary, if the court determines the property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration. That subsection carries no threshold figure, so a larger trust with unusual administrative burdens is not automatically outside it.
Can beneficiaries stop a trustee from closing a small trust?
They can seek disapproval. Section 736.0410(3) allows a proceeding to disapprove a proposed termination under section 736.0414(1), and limits that right to qualified beneficiaries.
Does a spendthrift clause prevent termination of an uneconomic trust?
Not by itself. Subsection (4) says the existence of a spendthrift provision does not make the section inapplicable unless the trust instrument expressly provides that the trustee may not terminate the trust under this section. A settlor who wants to foreclose it has to say so directly.
What happens to the property when a small trust is terminated?
Subsection (3) directs the trustee to distribute it in a manner consistent with the purposes of the trust, and permits the trustee to enter agreements or make other provisions to protect the interests of the beneficiaries and the trustee and to carry out the trust’s intent and purposes.
Common Situations
A trust holding $40,000 in a bank account. Squarely within subsection (1). The trustee can terminate after notice, and qualified beneficiaries can seek disapproval under section 736.0410(3).
A trust worth $200,000 with an expensive corporate trustee. Too large for the trustee route. Subsection (2) has no threshold and permits removal and replacement of the trustee as an alternative to ending the trust.
The trust has a spendthrift clause. That clause alone does not block termination. Look for language expressly barring termination under this section.
A conservation easement. Subsection (5) takes it outside the section entirely.
Sources of Law
- Section 736.0414, Florida Statutes (2025). Enacted by s. 4, ch. 2006-217, and never amended since.
- Section 736.0410(3), Florida Statutes, on standing to seek disapproval.
- Section 736.0103, Florida Statutes, defining qualified beneficiary.
- Our review searched Florida state courts, the Florida federal district courts, the Florida bankruptcy courts and the Eleventh Circuit on August 13, 2026, requesting every precedential status rather than the default view. We report a nil result as our own review and not as a certainty. Searching by section number is an imperfect tool in two known ways. It misses decisions that discuss a statute without naming it, and we have confirmed at least one Florida decision that names a section yet does not appear in a search for that number.
- Decisions discussed here are published opinions in other parties’ cases. They are not matters handled by this firm and they predict nothing about any reader’s case. No commercial citator pass has been run on this research.
Updated on August 13, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. General information about Florida law and published court decisions, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Reading this page does not make us your lawyers. Please do not send confidential details until we have connected.
