UEP

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office says liquidating a property trust set up by a polygamous community may be the best way to save it.

The United Effort Plan Trust owns most of the property in the twin communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., as well as Bountiful, British Columbia, in Canada. The trust was created in 1942 by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a breakaway Mormon group.

In a motion filed with Judge Denise Lindberg in Utah, Arizona officials asked her to start a six-month investigation by the attorney general’s offices of both states. In court papers, officials suggested liquidation might be the best way to safeguard the UEP’s remaining assets.

Utah moved for a takeover four years ago, saying that would protect residents of Hildale, Colorado City and Bountiful from losing their homes because of lawsuits against the FLDS. But there is now new litigation involving the court-appointed trustee and his actions.

Source/Full Story: UPI.com

Attorneys for a southern Utah polygamous church are asking a judge to reverse the sale of cows from a church farm by a court-appointed accountant.

Papers filed in 3rd District Court on Friday say the sale of 565 heifers from Harker Farms in Beryl decimates the value of the farm — a key asset in settlement negotiations over the United Effort Plan trust.

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Sect attorneys say fiduciary Bruce Wisan should have disclosed plans to sell the cows during negotiations. Wisan sold the cows for $360,000 on June 2. The sale was disclosed in a June 15 court filing — the same day the Utah attorney general’s office submitted a settlement proposal to the court that includes a mechanism for returning the farm to the FLDS.

FLDS lawyers also contend Wisan sold the young, non-milking cows below market rates. The lawyers place the value of the livestock at $537,840.

Source/Full Story: Standard-Examiner

Judge Denise Lindberg of 3^rd District Court told representatives of the FLDS today: pay up, or else. The ultimatum was given over the required monthly payments that everyone in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona were supposed to be making to the United Effort Plan Trust. The UEP trust owns just about everything in the towns, but is in the red by 2.5 million dollars. It needs cash to pay the bills.

So last year the judge, would took control of the trust away from FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs four years ago, authorized a monthly payment – something similar to the dues of a homeowner’s association.

For two months, Judge Lindberg said, the FLDS paid. Each family paid their leaders, and their leaders made a lump sum payment to the Utah Attorney General’s office. Then the FLDS payments stopped. Now they’re 6 months behind. They owe more than $385,000.

In a status conference Wednesday on a possible settlement with the FLDS, the judge told their representatives they’ve got until Monday to pay half of the outstanding amount with the rest due by June 15^th. “I absolutely demand… this is an order of the court,” she said. “Those payments need to be made forthwith. There will be no withholding of payments. Period.”

Source/Full Story:   ABC 4.com

The proposal also includes setting aside undeveloped lots in town for former members with legitimate beneficiary claims who were either excommunicated or voluntarily left the church.

On other issues — access to parks, use of a cemetery and payment of $2.6 million in outstanding bills — the parties were "very, very close" to an agreement, Shurtleff said.

Richards said he believes the current proposal raises constitutional and trust law problems. He also questioned whether it meets standards set when the court altered the UEP to allow for only secular management of its assets.

The FLDS believe the change is at odds with a core tenet of their religion — the Holy United Order — which calls for the sharing of assets for the benefit of those who adhere to church teachings.

The sect rejected Wisan’s oversight of the trust and stayed away from court hearings for about three years. They changed course last fall when it appeared land set aside for an FLDS temple might be sold. They countersued to stop the sale, triggering settlement talks.

Richards has asked the judge to lift a stay on the sale of the land so that trust debts can be paid. The judge did not rule on the issue Wednesday but did order the FLDS to pay six months of occupancy fees, totalling about $385,000.

Lindberg said half the fees are due Monday and the balance must be paid by June 15.

Sect spokesman Willie Jessop said the FLDS do not object to the fees, but thought the payments would be part of the settlement, not in addition to a settlement. He said the FLDS don’t like the idea that some of the funds may be used by Wisan in pending eviction actions against church members.

Source/Full Story: Chron.com

The parties in a 4-year battle for control of a polygamous church’s land trust are meeting with a judge to discuss the details of a settlement proposal.

The United Effort Plan Trust holds land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. – towns dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The state took control of the trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement.

Attorneys for the FLDS, the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona and a court-appointed fiduciary have spent 40 hours negotiating a settlement.

The parties were scheduled to meet with a 3rd District Court judge Wednesday.

The details of the settlement proposal are unclear, but issues include the distribution of property, access to parks and cemeteries and the payment of management fees.

Source/Full Story::  KIFI

Some former members of a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona line are worried they will lose their homes in the legal wrangling for control of the church’s property trust.

Residents no longer connected to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints say they fear that settlement talks may lead to members of the church winning control of the land and homes in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

“We’re concerned that we are going to lose our homes,” said Louis Bistline, who was raised in the church but left in 2006. He and about 25 others are writing letters to state officials voicing their concerns.

Paul Murphy, a spokesman for Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, urged patience. “I understand the concerns and the fears, but in the middle of negotiations, there are a thousand different scenarios and options,” he said. “I think, as hard as it is, people need to wait and see what is hammered out.”

The FLDS have long controlled the twin towns, where most of the land and homes are held in the church’s United Effort Plan Trust.

Source/Full Story::  CBS News

A handful of residents in polygamous communities on the Utah-Arizona border are voicing concern over settlement talks for control of the property trust that holds their homes.

In a letter-writing campaign to the Utah and Arizona attorneys general, residents no longer connected to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said they fear control of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., will go back to members of the church.

“Basically there are some people here that aren’t part of the religion and we’re concerned that we are going to lose our homes,” said Louis Bistline, who was raised in the church but left in 2006.

The FLDS, which has a large rural settlement near the West Texas town of Eldorado, has long controlled the twin towns, where most of the land and homes are held in the church’s United Effort Plan Trust. The UEP was formed in 1942 when members pooled their assets for the benefit of all who keep the tenets of the faith. With some exceptions, leaving the church has historically meant leaving homes and property behind.

Source/Full Story::  Houston Chronicle

A third day of talks in a battle for control of a polygamous church’s property trust ended with no settlement but a promise from the parties to stay at the negotiating table.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says the parties wrangling over the United Effort Plan trust are still sorting out details of a settlement.

Source/Full Story:: KTAR.com

Lawyers for a Utah-based polygamous church are set to meet with state attorneys and a court-appointed accountant to try to negotiate a settlement over the church’s property trust, which was placed under state court control nearly four years ago.

Two days of meetings at the Utah Capitol begin Wednesday.

At stake is ownership of the property and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The land is held by the United Effort Plan Trust, an arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The Utah attorney general’s office won control of the UEP trust in 2005, convincing a district judge that church president Warren Jeffs and other leaders had mismanaged its assets.

FLDS members view the state’s intervention as violation of their religious rights.

Source/Full Story:: KSTU

Source: Chron.com

http://www.ueptrust.com

A spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was in state court Thursday to ask a judge if members can ultimately own their homes, now held by a state-managed church trust.

A state-appointed accountant has managed the $110 million United Effort Plan Trust for three years.

The UEP is the charitable arm of the FLDS church. The trust was formed in 1942, when church members turned over their property and other assets to the church to establish a communal order along the Utah/Arizona border where they had lived since the 1920s. Church leaders served as the trust’s managers.

Judge Denise Lindberg on Thursday told Willie Jessop that under the newly revised trust managed by accountant Bruce Wisan, members can own their own homes, with some restrictions. She also sought to assure him there is no bias against the church in the management of the trust.

“I can honestly tell you I have no bias against FLDS. I don’t have a bias for FLDS or for people who have been formerly FLDS. I truly have no view on that issue,” Lindberg said. “I believe that in the long term efforts toward where this trust is going that the most appropriate thing is … to allow and create the opportunity for people to be able to own their property and be able to control it. I’m not going to put a religious test on that.”
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Source: KCSG-TV St. George, UT

A lawsuit filed by a former child bride could ultimately bankrupt the trust that holds all property in Hildale and Colorado City.

The multi-million dollar personal injury lawsuit against the U-E-P trust was filed by Elissa Wall. Wall was the woman at the center of the case that ended in the conviction of Warren Jeffs on rape as an accomplice charges. Lawyers for the trust say if it is held liable, it could open the door to numerous other lawsuits by those who feel they were harmed by Jeffs. They say that such lawsuits could leave innocent people who live in homes owned by the trust with nothing.

Via: Deseret News

The law firm that once represented the Fundamentalist LDS Church is fighting subpoenas to hand over documents to the court-controlled real estate arm of the polygamous sect.

Lawyers for the United Effort Plan Trust served the subpoenas on Snow, Christensen & Martineau, seeking to compel the law firm into handing over documents. The firm is resisting, arguing attorney-client privilege.

“It is impossible to characterize legal advice given to FLDS leadership regarding the UEP Trust as having been given to them in any particular capacity,” attorney Rod Parker wrote in documents filed last week in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court.

“The UEP Trust was regarded as a part of the religious institution of the Church, and was managed as a religious institution and a tool used in the Church’s mission in providing for the spiritual and temporal needs of its members. The Special Fiduciary’s characterization of the UEP Trust as an entity with a separate existence from the mission of the Church is not consistent with SC&M’s representation of the Church.”

Snow, Christensen & Martineau acted as the FLDS Church’s legal counsel from 1987-2004. It helped incorporate the church and the UEP Trust.

From the Deseret Morning News

Two brothers who filed a lawsuit against the United Effort Plan trust and Fundamentalist LDS Church leaders are being asked to move out of the Iron County dairy farm they live on.

“We are being evicted from our homes and that’s the same thing that Warren Jeffs did,” Sterling Harker told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday.

The special fiduciary of the court-controlled UEP Trust confirmed Thursday he asked Sterling J. Harker and his brother, William S. Harker, to leave the property in the wake of their multi-million dollar lawsuit.

“They sued the trust and so I fired Sterling as an employee and asked them to leave the farm,” Bruce Wisan said, adding that communications between the two sides have not progressed.

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A 3rd District Court judge has appointed three new members to an advisory board managing most of the homes and property in the polygamist-dominated cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.    They are all former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which follows a 19th-century version of Mormonism that includes plural marriage.

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UEP, United Effort Plan.Hildale, Utah, Colorado City, Arizona, Deloy Bateman, Kathryn Cox, Seth Cooke