POA vs Trustee of a Discretionary Nil Rate band Trust

Nearlyold

If a Trustee of a NRB Discretionary Trust is also an Attorney under a POA for finance for the same person/donor (who is now deceased) and refuses to to supply accounts for either the trust or the POA (having burnt though circa £600,000 of funds in 6 years (substantially on themselves) how would that work with any legal challenge given that the trust gives more scope for the trustee to benefit themselves than the POA  I can't see how you would identify where the misspent money came from.

bobster2

POA expires on someone's death. So they are no longer an attorney.

Nearlyold

Okay thanks, my mistake, should have put was. I was trying to get my head round whether they could more easily shrug it off in terms of accountability for a Discretionary trust than a POA

NorthYorkie

A trustee is not allowed to benefit personally from that position. This would be a breach of trust and actionable at law.
Is the trustee also a potential beneficiary of the trust? 
Are you also a potential beneficiary?
How do you know that he/she has spent £600,000 on themselves?
If what you say is correct, you really need professional legal advice

Nearlyold

Yes the Trustee is a potential beneficiary - its a discretionary trust whereby the Trustee is empowered to make  decisions on who benefits although the trust wording gives guidance as to who should be considered the intended major beneficiary.

Bank statements show the amounts paid out to the trustee for holidays and umpteen other things

NorthYorkie

I believe you have posted about this situation on three previous occasions;
1 October 2022 - re a 'deceased close relative' with a substantial estate,
2 August 2024 - was there any point in contacting the Office of the Public Guardian about the activities of an attorney, (you were advised to contact the OPG and/or the police)
25 July 2025 - was an expression of wish valid to enable an executor to be paid for caring for the deceased. You were asked whether the executor was the same person as the attorney in the previous post. There was no reply.

This is far too complex a situation to be dealt with in this forum. If you wish to pursue this matter you MUST get professional legal advice from a qualified lawyer with experience of trusts and estates. All I would add is that;
1. payments out of a discretionary trust of the amounts mentioned would have given rise to exit charges for inheritance tax, which should be payable by the executor(s). I wonder whether HMRC have been informed.
2. making a discretionary beneficiary the executor of the trust was ill-advised. At best it creates a conflict of interest, at worst it creates this type of situation.

Nearlyold

Thanks for your reply much appreciated. We are very aware that it's a complex matter, Solicitors etc are already involved. We are not expecting to sort it ourselves via this forum (if only it could be LOL.)  Really just trying to get a better understanding of what's challengeable and likely to be worthwhile pursuing and what's likely to be a lost cause. OPG didn't want to know as POA had ended. Tax Info is interesting - I very much doubt HMRC were informed by the trustee at the time. Unfortunately time and all the stress has taken its toll in terms of our ability to take stuff on board.