Trust review service: an independent review of your trust and its trustee

A trust review service answers one plain question: does this trust, as it is actually run today, match what its deed says and what its trustee is supposed to do? The review is carried out by someone who has no stake in the existing arrangement, reads the paperwork in a set order and records what it finds in a short note.

Many trusts are never looked at after the day they are signed. Settlors age, advisers retire, beneficiaries grow up, and the file quietly drifts. A review is a way of finding out where you stand before a problem forces the question.

What a trust review service covers

The work follows the trust from its founding document to its latest decision. It is organised around five areas.

The deed and its amendments

The reviewer reads the trust deed together with every amendment, deed of appointment and supplementary instrument. The aim is to understand who holds which power, how a trustee can be replaced and what the deed allows or forbids.

Governance roles and decisions taken

Next comes the question of who actually decided what. The review compares the roles set out in the deed (settlor, trustee, protector, beneficiaries) with the decisions recorded over the years.

Accounts and records

Accounts, bank statements and the trustee's internal records are read for completeness and consistency. The question is whether the trustee can show what it holds and what it has done, in line with the duty to manage and to account described in Article 2 of the Hague Convention.

Distributions against the deed

Each distribution is set against the wording of the deed and any letter of wishes. Were the right people considered? Is the reasoning written down?

Compliance files and filings

Finally, the reviewer looks at the compliance file: client identification, beneficial owner records, periodic reviews and the filings the trustee must make. For more on the trustee's side of this, see compliance and reporting duties.

Who asks for a review, and when

A review is useful in more situations than a dispute. Typical triggers include:

• you have inherited a trust and want to understand it before deciding on the trustee;
• an adviser or family office is looking after a client and wants an outside reading;
• the trustee has stopped answering, or answers late and vaguely;
• the trust is about to change hands, and you want a clean baseline first;
• nobody has looked at the file for years.

The last case is common enough to deserve its own page, a trust nobody has looked at for years.

The five documents to hand over

The review starts with paper. The easiest way to begin is to gather five items:

• The trust deed, with all amendments and any deed of retirement and appointment
• The latest letter of wishes, if one exists
• Trustee accounts and bank statements for the periods under review
• Minutes, resolutions and the record of distributions
• The compliance file held by the trustee (identification, beneficial owner records, review notes)

If you cannot obtain one of these, that is itself a finding. A trustee is expected to be able to produce its records, and the note will say what could not be seen. The guide on information your trustee must give you explains what you can reasonably ask for.

How the review runs

1. Confidential assessment. You describe the trust, who you are in relation to it and what concerns you. This sets the scope.
2. Handover of documents. You or your adviser provide the five items above, or ask the trustee to send them.
3. Structured reading. The reviewer works through the five areas in order and keeps a log of each question and the document that answers it.
4. Questions to the trustee, where useful. Gaps are raised in writing, so that answers are on record.
5. Findings note. A short document sets out what is in order, what is missing and what could be improved.

How the findings are presented

The note scores the file area by area, in qualitative terms rather than as a measurement. The chart below shows what that can look like for a trust whose deed is sound but whose records are thin.

A low mark is not a verdict on the trustee. It points to where a conversation, a correction or, occasionally, a change of trustee is worth considering.

An example: the review that finds missing minutes

Example: a family established in Lausanne holds a trust created by the grandmother, now deceased. The grandchildren, who are discretionary beneficiaries, notice that distributions seem to follow no pattern. They ask for a review.

The deed turns out to be well drafted. The accounts balance. But the review finds no minutes for several distribution decisions: the money moved, yet nothing shows who considered what. The note recommends that the trustee reconstruct the reasoning where it can, adopt a written decision routine and record future decisions at the time they are taken. A related case is described in an independent review that reveals missing minutes.

What the review does not cover

• It is not legal advice on a particular dispute, and it does not replace court proceedings.
• It does not compare jurisdictions or give a view on the tax treatment of your family. Those questions depend on residence, the country of the beneficiaries and the nature of the assets, and call for an individual analysis.
• It does not remove the trustee or change the deed. If a change is warranted, the next step is set out in changing trustee step by step.
• It does not look into the personal affairs of the beneficiaries.

What the confidential assessment lets you establish

After the assessment you will know whether a review is proportionate to your situation, which of the five areas deserve most attention and which documents are needed first. Fees depend on the structure and on the volume of records, and are indicated after the assessment, not before.

If you want a self-check first, the annual trust health check and reviewing an existing trust in ten questions give a lighter starting point.