The trustor of a trust may by the provisions of the trust relieve the trustee from any or all of the duties, restrictions, and liabilities which would otherwise be imposed by chapters 11.95A, 11.98, 11.100, and 11.104B RCW and RCW 11.106.020, or may alter or deny any or all of the privileges and powers conferred by those provisions; or may add duties, restrictions, liabilities, privileges, or powers to those imposed or granted by those provisions. If any specific provision of those chapters is in conflict with the provisions of a trust, the provisions of the trust control whether or not specific reference is made in the trust to any of those chapters, except as provided in RCW 6.32.250, 11.96A.190, 19.36.020, 11.98.002, 11.98.200 through 11.98.240, 11.98.072(1), 11.95A.350 through 11.95A.375, and chapter 11.103 RCW. In no event may a trustee be relieved of the duty to act in good faith and with honest judgment. Notwithstanding the breadth of discretion granted to a trustee in the terms of the trust, including the use of such terms as "absolute," "sole," or "uncontrolled," the trustee must exercise a discretionary power in good faith and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the trust and the interests of the beneficiaries.
RCW 11.97.010
Power of trustor—Trust provisions control.
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Godette v. Estate of Cox (1991)
Most recently applied in 924 F. Supp. 2d 1256 - Vaughn v. Montague (February 2013)
2021 c 140 s 3611; 2013 c 272 s 7; 2011 c 327 s 12; 2003 c 254 s 4; 1993 c 339 s 1; 1985 c 30 s 38
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.