Family Trust, UPE: Figuring out a non-transparent Trustee

Hi there,
First post after reading and learning a lot about financial structures.

My wife is slowly becoming estranged from her father, part of which is to do with his non-transparent dealings in the DFT. We are trying to figure out exactly what he has been up to. He is an accountant and has used my wife as a beneficiary of the DFT for 15 yrs. My understanding and realisation of what has been going on is expanding rapidly, and this is causing a number of questions about the legal and moral basis of the actions.

My wife has never had actual cash distributed to her as the beneficiary, has never signed a Deed of Debt Forgiveness and has never been told how much has been distributed to her via book entry with corresponding UPE, thus no knowledge of any UPE. Now i am aware that if she reviewed her tax returns she could probably figure out the distribution, but her father never showed her the full return (just got her to sign the signature page and then whipped the document away never for her to see it again). In the last few years she started asking to see more and more, with his response to get angry, run away and come back with reprinted tax return documents with no distribution.

He is not a nice person and has done each of the following:

• He has opened bank accounts in her name via a revoked power of attorney to push millions of his cash.
• He has renegged on verbal business deal with me (using accounting fiddling to move $1.5M property development profit into an entity he owns when it was agreed I would get 30% of profit).
• He has distributed property title to his estranged adult son then used revoked power of attorney to sell the property and gift/loan money back to family trust (all without his son's knowledge, consent or awareness).

My questions are:
Is there any way to find out what the UPE owing to my wife from the DFT?
Is there any way to find out if any DoDF have been signed (using PoA or revoked PoA) to forgive UPE?
Is there any way to find out what was distributed each year going back 15yrs?
What happens after 7yrs for the UPE if not repaid or forgiven?
Is there anything else that my wife should be concerned with?

 

1. as a beneficiary of the trust your wife would be entitled to see the financials of the trust. if the trustee refuses a court order may be needed
2. as above
3. as above
4. a UPE is not a loan, but an entitlement in equity as such the limitations act doesn't apply - unless it had been converted into a loan
5. yes