The whole section
Absent a breach of trust, a trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in the value of trust property or for not having made a profit.
Section 736.1003, Florida Statutes. Enacted in 2006 and never amended.
Most people who contact a trust lawyer about investments do so because the account is smaller than it was, or smaller than they expected. This sentence is the answer to that complaint in its unadorned form, and it is worth understanding before spending money on a fight.
Breach is the gateway
The structure is conditional. Absent a breach of trust, there is no liability. So the enquiry never starts with the numbers. It starts with conduct.
What would count as a breach is set out elsewhere. Section 736.0802 is the duty of loyalty. Section 736.0804 is prudent administration. Section 736.0901 imports the investment standard from chapter 518. Section 736.0810 requires records and separation of property. A failure against any of those is a breach; a falling market is not.
Once a breach is established, section 736.1002 takes over and sets the measure of damages.
The second limb, which does separate work
The sentence covers two complaints, not one. The first is that the trust lost value. The second is that it failed to gain.
That second limb matters because it is the more natural shape of a modern grievance. The portfolio did not fall; it simply did worse than it might have. Cash sat uninvested. A property was not sold at the top. The statute answers all of those the same way. Without a breach, a missed profit is not compensable.
Note the limit of that protection. It is not a licence to leave a trust idle. Failing to act can itself be a breach, and the definitions section makes the point expressly by defining an action, with respect to an act of a trustee, to include a failure to act. Inaction is conduct, and conduct can breach a duty.
Why the rule is right, even when it is unwelcome
A trustee cannot control markets. If liability attached to outcomes, no competent person would serve without charging for the risk, and the cost would fall on beneficiaries. Judging conduct rather than results is what makes it possible for anyone to act as trustee at all.
It also aligns with how the investment standard itself works. The prudent investor rule judges decisions on the information available when they were made, not with hindsight. This section is the remedial expression of the same idea.
No Florida court has cited this section
A search returns no citing documents at any precedential status, in any Florida court, the Florida federal courts or the Eleventh Circuit.
That silence makes sense. This is a provision that works before litigation rather than in it. A claim that a trustee should pay for a market decline, with nothing more, does not usually reach a written opinion; it is disposed of in a letter or a first motion. The section’s effect is real and largely invisible.
We publish the nil result as our own review rather than as a certainty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue a trustee because the trust lost money?
Not on that basis alone. Section 736.1003 provides that absent a breach of trust, a trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in the value of trust property, or for not having made a profit.
So what do I have to show?
A breach of trust. That means conduct falling below a duty the trustee owed, such as the duty of loyalty, the duty of prudent administration, or the investment standard imported from chapter 518. The loss then goes to what the breach cost, not to whether there was one.
What does not having made a profit mean?
It is the second limb of the same sentence and it covers a different complaint. The grievance is not that the trust lost value, but that it should have gained more. A missed opportunity is not by itself a claim either.
Does this protect a trustee who did nothing at all?
No. Doing nothing can itself be a breach. The Trust Code defines an action, with respect to an act of a trustee, to include a failure to act.
Has any Florida court cited this section?
No. Our review found no citing decision, which is unsurprising for a provision that defeats claims before they are filed.
Common Situations
The trust is worth less than it was. That alone is not a claim. Look at the trustee's conduct.
The trustee missed an obvious opportunity. A missed profit needs a breach behind it.
Cash sat uninvested for years. Failing to act can be a breach, so this is a different question.
You have identified an actual breach. Then section 736.1002 governs what it costs.
Sources of Law
- Section 736.1003, Florida Statutes (2025). Enacted by s. 10, ch. 2006-217 and never amended.
- Section 736.1002, Florida Statutes, on damages for a breach of trust.
- Section 736.0804, Florida Statutes, and chapter 518, on the standard a trustee's investment conduct is measured against.
- Section 736.0103, Florida Statutes, which defines an action by a trustee to include a failure to act.
- Our review searched the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Florida federal district courts, the Florida bankruptcy courts and the Eleventh Circuit on August 16, 2026, requesting every precedential status rather than the default view. We report a nil result as our own review and not as a certainty, and we confirm that a section number actually appears in a decision before relying on it, having now found three search results for statutes whose numbers appear nowhere in the opinions returned.
- 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 16, 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.
