Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

Re: Trust or Not

Trusts are noted for their flexibility. It is up to the person establishing the trust, the "settlor" to establish the trust on terms that she or he thinks best. Sometimes, the settlor wants a trustee to have great discretion. Sometimes, the settlor wants the trustee to have less. The relative powers of a trustee are strictly up to the person estalblishing the trust and therefore there is no right or wrong answer to your question. In each case you must make reference to the Trust Agreement. Of course, the trustee must act in accordance with principles of fiduciary conduct. He must be loyal and avoid self-dealing with the trust corpus. If the beneficiary or the remainderman thinks that the trustee is acting improperly, he can sue that trustee in court so as to obtain court supervision or intervention.

The obligation to account is also governed by the Trust agreement, again, subject to common law duties of a trustee to be loyal and exercise fiduciary standards for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the trust.