Can an attorney include the power to name himself as a successor trustee in my trust without asking me?

That may be part of the standard form but all of the provisions should have been discussed with you prior to your executing the trust. If you do not wish to retain that provision you can amend the trust to delete it.

No, I think this is improper.

Fire that attorney for not obtaining your consent to have himself appointed and get yourself a new estate planning attorney.

It's probably standard language he puts in his trusts after having had problems administering a trust because no successor trustees were available. But it's your trust, if you don't like that language, just ask him to remove it before you sign the trust agreement.

Well, he hasn't done it without your authorization has he. He gave you the document to review. You can object, which you have to the provision, and put in a different person.

If that's not what you want, then don't sign it. If the lawyer drafted this without discussing it with you, you may wish to consider using a different lawyer.

The provision is not illegal, in the sense that it is not a crime. Including that provision without first informing you, however, strikes me as a questionable practice in terms of legal ethics. In any event, you should ask your lawyer to strike that provision from the document if you do not want your attorney to have that power.

No. The creator of the trust designates the trustee with the assistance of the attorney. Take your trust papers and see another attorney.

I do not think it is ILLEGAL. But it is not something I would EVER include in an estate plan without discussing it with the client, first. I would ask him about it. It is possible that it is a residue from another estate plan and he just did not catch it. I would ask him to delete it, if you do not agree. I do not see why he should decide for you. There are numerous other alternatives.

There is nothing illegal per se to have the attorney name himself, however, I personally believe it is a conflict of interest to name oneself in someone else documents absent a very good reason such as there is just no one else to name. As a matter of practice, I do not think it is a good idea for any attorney to name themselves in any document, because it only begs the question as to why and invites suspicion. For example, I bet that the document also provides that any trustee that serves is entitled to reasonable compensation. If so, there is the conflict of interest since he just found a way to get paid at a later date under Florida law. Some attorneys however believe they are doing their client a favor by giving themselves such a power because it prevents the family from going thru an unnecessary hardship of filling the position by going to court to have it resolved. One of the main reasons for using a trust is to try to keep it in the family and out of the court system. Again, there should be plenty of people in the family to choose from other than the attorney. At a minimum, why not just have the beneficiaries vote on a new trustee. Again, none of this may be viable but you should definitely ask why he is naming himself. Absent a good reason, I would try to find several family members to list as successors in succession. Under Florida law, who ever serves as trustee bears the hardship of responsibility and it is not necessarily a fun task. Having said all this, if the authority the attorney is granting himself is more of a "trust protector" status without any fiduciary authority, then that would be an acceptable place to name oneself. For example, if there was not trustee available, he might have the authority to put a new trustee in place that is acceptable to all of the beneficiaries. As far as it being legal to do so without your authorization, yes it is fine so long as you and he agree to what you want. Remember that attorney's that draft documents do so based on years of experience and knowledge and a lot of what goes into these documents are not going to be pre-discussed. It is incumbent on the client to read the document carefully and ask the questions before you sign the document. If you don't like the way the attorney answers your questions or how he prepares the document, you have every right to find someone else that might fit your needs a little better. Talk to your attorney and see what he says. If you don't like his response, please consult an experienced estate planning attorney for additional guidance.

I would never ask a client to do this and if a client asks me to serve as a trustee or successor trustee I decline such an appointment so you do not have to allow the attorney to do this - period, end of story.

It's your trust. If you don't like what it says, have him change it or don't sign it. Sounds like a strange provision to me, but it may make perfect sense for the situation.