Trut Trustees

[lulu_bucket]

I am a Trustee along with my mother and my sister of a Trust to pay out money to help my children/her grandchildren with housing. My brother is a Trustee along with my mother and our Solicitor of a Trust set up in 1951 to pay for education for my mother's grandchildren
Can someone please tell me that if shares for example are sold in order to receive money to pay for such things DO ALL the Trustees have to sign. On otherwords any transactions from an account/Trust need to have all three Trustee signatories and also is a copy of EVERYTHING kept for records so that one can look back to see what has gone in and out of a Trust etc. Many thanks in advance.

[ubasses]

It depends on the rules of the Trust as to whether all of the Trustees have to sign, you need to get hold of the Trust Deed to find that out.

[lulu_bucket]

sorry i dont know how to answer you but thanks - how do I get hold of the Trust Deeds?

[ubasses]

The Solicitor should have it. There should not be any problem getting to see the one you are the Trustee on but it will be a different matter for the other one they will probably need permission from the Trustees

[lulu_bucket]

Thanks for that very much. Problem is the Solicitor is one of the Trustees of two Trusts and we think may have done movement of money etc within two Trusts without any of the other two Trustees signiatures? Is this possible?

[themas]

You are a trustee of one of these trusts. If you do not already have a copy of the trust deed then you must get one - if the trust was drawn up by the solicitor he/she must have the document. You have every right to see it & it must be given to you on request.

Similarly, any of the trustees of the other trust can request a copy of that deed.

It is possible that you will find the deeds do not specify who has to sign documents. If they do not, then there are rules laid down in Trust law which will govern this, but you are unlikely to be able to clarify it definitively without a solicitor (one experienced in trust law) being involved. The same applies to the question of keeping records & producing accounts, although it seems entirely reasonable for all the trustees to be provided with accounts showing the position of the trust in sufficient detail for them to be able to check & satisfy themselves as to what has been done. I believe some sort of annual tax return has to be done for most (if not all) trusts & accounts must be produced for this. All trustees are liable for the correct use of the trust funds & consequently all have a right (& would be very unwise to forgo the right) to be fully aware of what is being done with the trust funds.

I suggest you (& the other non-solicitor trustees if you all have the same concerns) make an appointment to see the solicitor & raise all your queries with him/her. There may well be a sensible explanation. If you cannot get satisfaction you may have to take other action. This could involve the cost of another solicitor or making a formal complaint using the Law Society procedure (see their website) against the trustee solicitor.