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Committee advances bill making Florida attorney general sole public official to enforce Florida charitable trusts
Summary
CS for SB 806, sponsored by Senator Yarbrough, was reported favorably after debate about whether the change would prevent other state attorneys general from taking similar actions and concerns about possible limits on beneficiaries' remedies.
The Florida Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice on Oct. 12 reported CS for SB 806 favorably after sponsor Senator Yarbrough said the bill clarifies a 2017 legislative intent that the Florida attorney general be the only public official who may assert the rights of a qualified beneficiary of a charitable trust administered in Florida.
Yarbrough told the committee the measure responds to a May 2024 Fifth District Court of Appeal decision that concluded an out-of-state attorney general had standing to sue a Florida charitable trust. He said the bill does not "shield or immunize a Florida charitable trust from its own wrongdoing" but would make the Florida attorney general the exclusive public official with authority to supervise Florida charitable trusts. "It only states that the Florida AG is the exclusive public official with authority to supervise the administration of a Florida ... charitable trust," he said.
Senator Russon questioned whether the bill would bar an out-of-state attorney general (the example given was Delaware) from representing qualified beneficiaries and whether that would force beneficiaries to hire private counsel. Yarbrough said the bill would allow only the Florida attorney general to act as a public official on behalf of qualified beneficiaries but would not prevent beneficiaries from pursuing private actions themselves. Russon said he would support the bill for now but sought further discussion before rules, raising concerns that the change could affect remedies and implicate court authority.
The committee voted to report CS for SB 806 favorably by roll call; members present voted yes.
