What is the role of the attorney who sets up a trust?

It's wise to pay attention to your instincts and at least look into this situation a little deeper. Typically the attorney represents the trustee of the trust. That is the attorney does NOT represent you. Sometimes a beneficiary gets their own counsel to represent them. You should at least find an attorney for an initial consultation to give you a better lay of the land. In terms of the current attorney it sounds like they were also the drafting attorney. That means they represented the creators of the trust. If so there is at least a technical conflict of interest in representing the trustee. If you wanted to get the attorney out of the picture you could bring up this conflict. However, I would think through the repercussions first. That is, personal (family type stuff) and also legal (is another attorney going to be better or just cost more money?). Good luck to you.  -John