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Good evening
Im not sure which area I should be posting in, so if this needs moving it would be helpful.
My parents in law are shareholders in the family farm. Due to matters in the past, and my father in law's parents setting them up in the first place, the farm is a limited company, which was originally owned in the whole by his parents, later different shares were inherited and passed on, and others were sold and exchanged as they were passed on to his brothers, and he inherited shares in another family business, etc etc.
As it stands now there are 2 types of share - voting ones and non voting ones, all have equal 'value'. Ive been doing quite alot of the paperwork because they are very elderly, and mother in law (MIL) used to do it all but is now quite unwell too. My partner is a director but does not have any shares (although he was led to believe that he did have) Father in law (FIL) is difficult and not forthcoming with info, nor seems to have much of a grasp of the business/finances as all that fell to MIL. As ive been looking through the paperwork Ive found that half the shares appear to be in a trust, of which both MIL and FIL are 'non beneficiary trustees', and the remainder of the shares belong to MIL and FIL, shared equally. Ive asked MIL about this and she doesnt seem to have a clue about it, nor does FIL. The other trustee is a solicitor who used to work for a firm used way in the past - MIL tracked him down and he also appears to have no recollection of it.
Ive looked back at old tax returns, all the online stuff seems to have the same info about the trust, and Ive narrowed down a point in the history where the shares must have been transferred some point in the early - mid 80s - my 'guess' is that grandmother in law (who was the last to die of that generation and who had all the money!) viewed MIL as a 'gold-digger' and knew FIL was a lousey businessman and wanted to protect her grandchildren's future, and put my partner and his sister's shares into a trust, probably which may have matured at some point. But this is pure speculation based upon what Ive gleaned of a complex and frustrating family history
MIL has spoken to companys house to see if there is any trace of this share transfer but she seems to have hit a brick wall, as could find no reference to the limited company with the data company she was sent to. The current accountants/solicitors have no trace of the details of this trust, beyond the info held at company house, that these shares are in a trust.
Is there any way at all of finding out what has happened here and the details of the trust. As its a limited company then will the transfer have been registered somewhere, and would a copy of the details of the trust be able to be tracked down?
Im not sure which area I should be posting in, so if this needs moving it would be helpful.
My parents in law are shareholders in the family farm. Due to matters in the past, and my father in law's parents setting them up in the first place, the farm is a limited company, which was originally owned in the whole by his parents, later different shares were inherited and passed on, and others were sold and exchanged as they were passed on to his brothers, and he inherited shares in another family business, etc etc.
As it stands now there are 2 types of share - voting ones and non voting ones, all have equal 'value'. Ive been doing quite alot of the paperwork because they are very elderly, and mother in law (MIL) used to do it all but is now quite unwell too. My partner is a director but does not have any shares (although he was led to believe that he did have) Father in law (FIL) is difficult and not forthcoming with info, nor seems to have much of a grasp of the business/finances as all that fell to MIL. As ive been looking through the paperwork Ive found that half the shares appear to be in a trust, of which both MIL and FIL are 'non beneficiary trustees', and the remainder of the shares belong to MIL and FIL, shared equally. Ive asked MIL about this and she doesnt seem to have a clue about it, nor does FIL. The other trustee is a solicitor who used to work for a firm used way in the past - MIL tracked him down and he also appears to have no recollection of it.
Ive looked back at old tax returns, all the online stuff seems to have the same info about the trust, and Ive narrowed down a point in the history where the shares must have been transferred some point in the early - mid 80s - my 'guess' is that grandmother in law (who was the last to die of that generation and who had all the money!) viewed MIL as a 'gold-digger' and knew FIL was a lousey businessman and wanted to protect her grandchildren's future, and put my partner and his sister's shares into a trust, probably which may have matured at some point. But this is pure speculation based upon what Ive gleaned of a complex and frustrating family history
MIL has spoken to companys house to see if there is any trace of this share transfer but she seems to have hit a brick wall, as could find no reference to the limited company with the data company she was sent to. The current accountants/solicitors have no trace of the details of this trust, beyond the info held at company house, that these shares are in a trust.
Is there any way at all of finding out what has happened here and the details of the trust. As its a limited company then will the transfer have been registered somewhere, and would a copy of the details of the trust be able to be tracked down?
