Florida Statute 733.808 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLII
ESTATES AND TRUSTS

Chapter 733
PROBATE CODE: ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES

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733.808 Death benefits; disposition of proceeds.—

(1) Death benefits of any kind, including, but not limited to, proceeds of:

(a) An individual life insurance policy;

(b) A group life insurance policy;

(d) An annuity or endowment contract; and

(e) A health or accident policy,

may be made payable to the trustee under a trust agreement or declaration of trust in existence at the time of the death of the insured, employee, or annuitant or the owner of or participant in the benefit plan. The death benefits shall be held and disposed of by the trustee in accordance with the terms of the trust as they appear in writing on the date of the death of the insured, employee, annuitant, owner, or participant. It shall not be necessary to the validity of the trust agreement or declaration of trust, whether revocable or irrevocable, that it have a trust corpus other than the right of the trustee to receive death benefits.

(2) Death benefits of any kind, including, but not limited to, proceeds of:

(a) An individual life insurance policy;

(b) A group life insurance policy;

(d) An annuity or endowment contract; and

(e) A health or accident policy,

may be made payable to the trustee named, or to be named, in a written instrument that is admitted to probate as the last will of the insured, the owner of the policy, the employee, owner, or participant covered by the plan or contract, or any other person, whether or not the will is in existence at the time of designation. Upon the admission of the will to probate, the death benefits shall be paid to the trustee, to be held, administered, and disposed of in accordance with the terms of the trust or trusts created by the will.

(3) In the event no trustee makes proper claim to the proceeds from the insurance company or other obligor within a period of 6 months after the date of the death of the insured, employee, annuitant, owner, or participant, or if satisfactory evidence is furnished to the insurance company or obligor within that period that there is, or will be, no trustee to receive the proceeds, payment shall be made by the insurance company or obligor to the personal representative of the person making the designation, unless otherwise provided by agreement with the insurer or obligor during the lifetime of the insured, employee, annuitant, owner, or participant.

(4) Unless the trust agreement, declaration of trust, or will expressly refers to this subsection and directs that it does not apply, death benefits payable as provided in subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (3), unless paid to a personal representative under the provisions of subsection (3), shall not be deemed to be part of the decedent’s estate and shall not be subject to any obligation to pay the expenses of the administration and obligations of the decedent’s estate or for contribution required from a trust under s. 733.607(2) to any greater extent than if the proceeds were payable directly to the beneficiaries named in the trust.

(5) The death benefits held in trust may be commingled with any other assets that may properly come into the trust.

(6) This section does not affect the validity of any designation of a beneficiary of proceeds previously made that designates as beneficiary the trustee of any trust established under a trust agreement or declaration of trust or by will.

History.—s. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 77-87; s. 158, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, ch. 2005-101; s. 5, ch. 2014-127.

Note.—Created from former s. 736.172.

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Amendments to 733.808

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 733.808

Total Results: 3 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Loewer v. New York Life Ins., 773 F. Supp. 1518 (M.D. Fla. 1991).

Cited 12 times | Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13543, 1991 WL 192675

...ched any contractual obligation to the plaintiff. In addition, in the Fladd case, as in the case at bar, the manner in which payments under the policy were to be made was governed by the Florida Statutes. See FLA.STAT. § 627.736(4)(b) and FLA.STAT. § 733.808 (1985)....

...In determining at what point the insurance contract at bar was breached, at what point an action could have been brought, and thus, when the statute of limitations began to run, the statutory provisions regarding payments under life insurance policies are relevant. Florida Statutes, § 733.808(2) provides that "upon the admission of the will to probate, the death benefits shall be paid to the trustee, to be held, administered, and disposed of in accordance with the terms of the trust created by the will." Under the same provisio...

...er within that period that there is, or will be, no trustee to receive the proceeds, "payment shall be made to the personal representative of the person making such designation, unless otherwise provided" in the agreement with the insurer. FLA.STAT. § 733.808(3) (1985) (emphasis added)....

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Morey v. Everbank, 93 So. 3d 482 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012).

Cited 8 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2012 WL 3000608, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 11876

...insured unless the insurance policy or a valid assignment thereof provides otherwise. While the mere fact that life insurance proceeds are payable to a trust, rather than directly to a natural person, does not deprive them of their exempt status, 4 section 733.808(1), Florida Statutes (2008), *486 makes it clear that life insurance proceeds payable to a trust “shall be held and disposed of by the trustee in accordance with the terms of the trust as they appear in writing on the date of the death of the insured.” We therefore consider the provisions of the Carlton W....

...While life insurance proceeds are not payable directly to the estate or subject to obligations of the estate 5 merely by virtue of being directed to a grantor trust, here the clear and explicit terms of the trust make the policy proceeds available to satisfy obligations of the estate, pursuant to section 733.808(1). A. Conceding that section 733.808(1) provides “[s]ome support for the Trial Court’s ruling,” the Trustee contends nevertheless that, because section 733.808(1) does not mention section 222.13, “there is no indication by the Legislature that the terms of Section 733.808(1) override an exemption statute such as Section 222.13.” The two statutory provisions are not, however, in conflict....

...A First Amendment to the restated trust, that Carlton W. Morey, Jr. executed on December 19, 2005, provided it was "Settlor’s intent Settlor's children named under Article V(G) receive his residuary estate as described in the Trust and in the subtrust described therein.” . See generally § 733.808(4), Fla....

...ay the expenses of the administration and obligations of the decedent's estate or for contribution required from a trust under s. 733.607(2) to any greater extent than if the proceeds were payable directly to the beneficiaries named in the trust.” § 733.808(4), Fla....

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Loewer v. New York Life Ins., 805 F. Supp. 956 (M.D. Fla. 1992).

Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16883, 1992 WL 318841

...The will was not admitted to probate in Florida at the time that payment under the policies was made. In this action, Plaintiff asserts that Defendant made improper payment of the proceeds of the New York Life policies. In support of this claim Plaintiff relies on Florida Statutes, section 733.808(2) which provides, in pertinent part, that death benefits of any kind, including, but not limited to, proceeds of an individual or group life insurance policy [m]ay be made payable to the trustee named, or to be named, in a written instrument that is admitted to probate as the last will of the insured ......

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