Your Wish Is My Command? Next Gen Wealth Is Discussed In ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Magazine

The trustee's view

One of the first things we tell our settlors when they are thinking of setting up a trust is that they should always express their wishes regarding what they would like to happen after their death by writing a letter to the trustee, to guide them when they are exercising their dispositive powers. It comes with the usual caveat that we are not, of course, bound to act upon those wishes, but it is an important note to have on file and will be taken into account when making decisions. This can be helpful reassurance for settlors who worry about how matters will evolve after they have died, and there is some expectation that those wishes will indeed be followed, and that the trustees will not make a decision that is "perverse or irrelevant to any sensible expectation of the settlor"(1).