Short answer. They can petition for it. Rule 98, Section 8 lets the court remove a trustee on petition of interested parties, after notice and hearing, if removal appears essential to their interests, or on its own initiative if the trustee is insane, incapable, or unsuitable; resignation likewise needs the court's approval.
What the law says
The proper Court of First Instance may, upon petition of the parties beneficially interested and after due notice to the trustee and hearing, remove a trustee if such removal appears essential in the interests of the petitioners.
Rule 98, Section 8 — Removal or resignation of trustee. Read the full provision →
Removal on petition of the beneficiaries
The court may remove a trustee upon petition of the parties beneficially interested and after due notice to the trustee and hearing, if such removal appears essential in the interests of the petitioners — beneficiaries have a real, court-tested route to force the issue. This is not a rubber-stamp process: the trustee gets notice and a hearing, and the beneficiaries carry the burden of showing removal is essential to their interests, not merely that they would prefer a different trustee or disagree with a particular decision.
Removal on the court's own assessment
Separately, and after notice to all interested persons, the court may remove a trustee who is insane or otherwise incapable of discharging his trust or evidently unsuitable for it — a ground that does not require a beneficiary petition to trigger. This route matters where the beneficiaries themselves may be unable to organize a petition, are unaware of the mismanagement, or where the court encounters evidence of the trustee's incapacity through some other proceeding entirely, so protection of the trust does not depend solely on the beneficiaries acting first.
Resignation is not automatic either
A trustee, whether appointed by the court or under a written instrument, may resign his trust only if it appears proper to the court to allow the resignation — he cannot simply walk away unilaterally. This protects the trust property from being left without anyone accountable for it, even temporarily, and lets the court arrange for a successor or otherwise safeguard the beneficiaries' interests before the outgoing trustee is actually released from his duties.
Why court oversight runs in both directions
Because a trustee holds property for someone else's benefit, neither forcing him out nor letting him leave is left to private agreement alone; the court checks both the removal and the resignation of a trustee. That symmetry reflects the nature of a trust itself: since the trustee is answerable to the court for how the property is managed, the same court retains the final say over who holds that responsibility, whether the change is initiated by unhappy beneficiaries or by the trustee's own wish to step away.
Related provisions
- Rule 98, Section 8 — Removal or resignation of trustee
- Rule 98, Section 7 — Appraisal; Compensation of trustee
- Rule 98, Section 9 — Proceedings for sale or encumbrance of trust estate