Is this trustee appointment legal?

aurora30

Hi
My Husband has received paperwork with regards to another trustee retiring and asking for him to sign and agree. However, this is the first time he has even heard that he himself is a trustee! The trust has been going for at least 19 years and this is seriously the first he has known about it.
Should he have been informed at the time and been given paperwork to read and sign?
Can he dispute this? They say if he doesn't want to do it he must retire as a trustee but surely he shouldn't be one in the first place?

TIA

Yorkshireman99

aurora30 wrote: »

Hi
My Husband has received paperwork with regards to another trustee retiring and asking for him to sign and agree. However, this is the first time he has even heard that he himself is a trustee! The trust has been going for at least 19 years and this is seriously the first he has known about it.
Should he have been informed at the time and been given paperwork to read and sign?
Can he dispute this? They say if he doesn't want to do it he must retire as a trustee but surely he shouldn't be one in the first place?

TIA

It sounds bonkers or some form of scam. Nobody can be appointed or asked to resign in this way. Perhaps you could give more details.

aurora30

Thanks for the reply.

It sounds bonkers to us too!
What other info would you like? We don't actually have much ourselves, unfortunately.
My Husband's father was in a relationship with someone who had a son with learning difficulties and when she died of Cancer, her will benefitted for this son via a trust.
We have just found out that my Husband was named as a trustee in the will because of this letter regarding a change of trustees as one wishes to retire.
It is further complicated by the fact that we have been no contact with FIL for 4 years now. Apparently, in order to retire his position, my Husband has to sign a deed of retirement and have it witnessed. Due to continued harassment from FIL in the form of contacting people associated with us, we are loathed to provide details of a new associate via this route but also feel that he shouldn't have to do this anyway as surely he can't have been made a trustee without his permission in the first place?

Yorkshireman99

aurora30 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

It sounds bonkers to us too!
What other info would you like? We don't actually have much ourselves, unfortunately.
My Husband's father was in a relationship with someone who had a son with learning difficulties and when she died of Cancer, her will benefitted for this son via a trust.
We have just found out that my Husband was named as a trustee in the will because of this letter regarding a change of trustees as one wishes to retire.
It is further complicated by the fact that we have been no contact with FIL for 4 years now. Apparently, in order to retire his position, my Husband has to sign a deed of retirement and have it witnessed. Due to continued harassment from FIL in the form of contacting people associated with us, we are loathed to provide details of a new associate via this route but also feel that he shouldn't have to do this anyway as surely he can't have been made a trustee without his permission in the first place?

A trustee can be appointed in a will without notice or consent. You could just ignore or refer them to the case o Arkell v Pressdram.]

aurora30

As much as we would like to ignore them or tell them to F off! They have said that my Husband either needs to sign the deed of retirement or they will make an application to the courts we could cost us 'significant legal costs'
I understand that a will can appoint a trustee but surely they need to accept the position? or at least be informed about it, including receiving information on the details of the trust and what it covers?
Also, how can a trust operate legally for 19 years if one of the trustees is not aware they are a trustee?

Tom99

Since he now knows he is a trustee it would be better for resign otherwise it can be implied he is happy to continue being a trustee and who knows what the trust has been up to.

aurora30

It's just so frustrating that we now have to give his Father an opportunity to further harass us due to something we never agreed to :mad:

Yorkshireman99

aurora30 wrote: »

As much as we would like to ignore them or tell them to F off! They have said that my Husband either needs to sign the deed of retirement or they will make an application to the courts we could cost us 'significant legal costs'
I understand that a will can appoint a trustee but surely they need to accept the position? or at least be informed about it, including receiving information on the details of the trust and what it covers?
Also, how can a trust operate legally for 19 years if one of the trustees is not aware they are a trustee?

I think they are trying to scare him.AFAIK he would not be liable particularly since the trustees can shown to Ha behaved improperly fo years. Any judge wil not support any application for cost against him. He really should write a firm but polite letter asking for a full explanation including the accounts for the last 19 years first.

aurora30

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

I think they are trying to scare him.AFAIK he would not be liable particularly since the trustees can shown to Ha behaved improperly fo years. Any judge wil not support any application for cost against him. He really should write a firm but polite letter asking for a full explanation including the accounts for the last 19 years first.

Thank you for your help that sounds like a good idea

getmore4less

Before letting a trustee retire would be wanting a look at all the accounts and tax returns for every year as you have no idea if the trust has been managed correctly.

Yorkshireman99

aurora30 wrote: »

It's just so frustrating that we now have to give his Father an opportunity to further harass us due to something we never agreed to :mad:

Very true. He might consider giving the address of his bank and head the letter “Without prejudice” . If there is harassment tell the police as they can be quite helpful in such circumstances.