How much is a trustee's fee in Florida?

While it's customary to charge a percentage, this can be problematic for smaller trusts. A trust holding $200,000 and paying a fee of 1.5% would pay an annual fee of $3,000, which may or may not cover the trustee's costs. Some professional trustees charge a minimum of $5,000 a year.

Jackie: I have a question regarding a trust. My brother is administering a trustee on our deceased parents. Is there a prudent manual regarding how much he can charge for administering the trust?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Is he in Florida, by the way, Jackie?

Jackie: That's correct.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Okay, so Jackie, in the State of Florida when you do a trust administration, the Florida Statutes tells us that the attorney fee shall be equal to 2.25%. The Florida Statutes does not tell us what the trustee's fee, but I make a conclusion that if the attorney is entitled to 2.25%, then the trustee would be entitled to 2.25% as well. I think that a few petitions I think the court would likely be to grant that. So Jackie, the number we'll be working with would be 2.25% of the value of the trust estate that would not include assets that are going directly to the beneficiaries, like IRAs and life insurance.