Florida Wills & Trusts: July 2000 Summary

Rule Against Perpetuities

The Florida Legislature modified the statutory Rule Against Perpetuities by increasing the maximum permissible period from 90 years to 360 years (P.L. 2000-245, amending §689.225). This law, as well as the companion provision allowing both judicial and nonjudicial reformation of trusts (§§737.4031 and 737.4032), will become effective on December 31, 2000 (and will only apply to trusts created after that date). These changes will be reflected in a later update.

Medical and End of Life Issues

The legislature has made some relatively minor changes (in P.L. 2000-295) to Chapter 765 dealing with medical and end of life issues (such as Designations of Health Care Surrogates and Living Wills). A new section, 765.1103, provides some guidelines for pain management and palliative care for patients. These provisions became law as of June 15, 2000, and will be reflected in the next update.