In the case of an irrevocable trust, who does the bank have more of a fiduciary responsibility to, the beneficiary or the grantor?
The bank's direct responsibility is to the trustee, who opens and maintains an account for the trust. However, the bank does have some legal responsibility to watch out for obvious cases of the fiduciary's (trustee's) breach of trust. For example, it would be a breach of trust for the trustee to deposit a check payable to him as trustee or to the trust into his personal checking account, or to use it to pay a loan that he owes personally.
If the bank's action in some way damaged the beneficiary, the beneficiary would of course have recourse in the courts. Similarly, if the bank took an action that violated the trust by doing something to benefit the beneficiary in a way the grantor specifically prohibited for whatever reason, the grantor might also have recourse in the courts.
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The bank's direct responsibility is to the trustee, who opens and maintains an 