Reid v. Estate of Sonder, 63 So. 3d 7

Cecilia Reid, as trustee of the Edgar Sonder Trust, petitions to reform the trust after the settlor’s death; probate court denied reformation and later awarded appellate fees to Hebrew Union College, which this court declines to review for fees on appeal.
The case has a procedural history: Reid II reversed a standing ruling and remanded for a trial on reformation.
The trust provisions originally allocated a separate apartment gift to Reid and other monetary gifts; after amendments, the language potentially made the apartment subject to priority among pecuniary gifts.
Testimony showed a drafting error: the attorney’s placement of the apartment gift with the $25,000 gift altered the intended specific devise.
Evidence at the reformation hearing, including the attorney’s affidavit and witnesses, suggested the settlor intended the apartment to Reid as a non-pecuniary, priority gift not subordinated to other gifts.
The majority affirms the probate court’s denial of reformation and dismisses the fee appeal for lack of jurisdiction, while a concurrence dissents on reforming the trust.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether reform is permitted despite an unambiguous trust	Reid argues §736.0415 supports reformation based on drafting error	Hebrew Union College contends the plain meaning controls and no error exists	Denied; reform denied under record-based reasoning
Whether clear and convincing evidence supports denial of reform	Reid asserts uncontroverted testimony shows settlor’s intent to Reid’s apartment	Court accepted some testimony but found it insufficient to show intent contrary to written terms	upheld denial; record insufficient for reformation under §736.0415
Whether appellate attorney-fee order is reviewable on appeal	Reid challenged fee entitlement order	Fee amounts were not fixed; order not final	Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Appropriate standard of review for drafting errors in a trust	Standard allows reformation despite unambiguous terms when drafting error exists	Unambiguous terms negate reformation without clear proof of settlor’s intent	Affirmed under standard for reviewing reformation decisions
Effect of the drafter’s testimony and settlor’s intent in a reformation action	Credible, unrebutted testimony shows intent to give apartment to Reid	Record insufficient to overcome plain meaning of the document	Majority treated it as insufficient to grant reform; concurrence disagrees

Reid v. Temple Judea, 994 So.2d 1146 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (standing and reformation context in prior appeal)
In re Estate of Robinson, 720 So.2d 540 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (reformation after settlor’s death for unilateral drafting mistake)
McKesson Drug Co. v. Williams, 706 So.2d 352 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence; clear and convincing)
Reinberg v. Heiby, 404 Ill. 247, 88 N.E.2d 848 ((1949)) (inspiration for reform doctrine (cited))
In re Adoption of E.A.W., 658 So.2d 961 (Fla.1995) (competent substantial evidence standard)
Easley, McCaleb & Stallings, Ltd. v. Gibbons, 667 So.2d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996) (fee-appealability posture for non-final orders)