Florida Senate - 2026                                    SB 1000
       
       
        
       By Senator Grall
       
       
       
       
       
       29-01212D-26                                          20261000__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to trust fund interest for purposes
    3         approved by the Supreme Court; creating s. 655.98,
    4         F.S.; authorizing financial institutions to hold funds
    5         in specified trust accounts used for specified
    6         purposes expressly authorized by Supreme Court rule;
    7         requiring certain entities to use interest and
    8         dividends for specified purposes; requiring certain
    9         financial institutions to pay specified interest or
   10         dividends; providing an effective date.
   11  
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Section 655.98, Florida Statutes, is created to
   15  read:
   16         655.98 Lawyer or law firm trust account interest rates.—A
   17  financial institution may hold funds in an interest-bearing
   18  trust account of a lawyer or law firm in which the institution
   19  remits interest or dividends on the balance of the deposited
   20  funds to an entity established by the Supreme Court. Such entity
   21  shall use the interest or dividends to provide or facilitate the
   22  provision of free legal services to low-income individuals or
   23  for such other purposes as may be expressly authorized by rule
   24  of the Supreme Court. If the financial institution holds such an
   25  account, it must pay, net of all fees and charges assessed by
   26  the financial institution, interest or dividends at the Wall
   27  Street Journal prime rate in effect on the first business day of
   28  each month, less 300 basis points, with a floor of 0.25 percent
   29  and a ceiling of 1.5 percent.
   30         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.