Utah Court Orders State AG To Advance Fees To Fiduciary In United Effort Plan Trust Case

The complex Utah state court litigation to reform the FLDS United Effort Plan Trust has gotten even more complex.  According to the Salt Lake Tribune, State 3rd District Court Judge Denise Lindberg on Monday ordered the Utah Attorney General's Office to advance $4.7 million to court-appointed special fiduciary Bruce Wisan for unpaid fees owed to lawyers and Wisan's accounting firm for work relating to the Trust. (See prior related posting.) The order contemplates that the Trust will eventually reimburse the state for the fees. The costs at issue were supposed to have been paid from proceeds of the sale of property and from court-imposed monthly occupancy fees that were assessed on those living on trust property. However most FLDS members have refused to pay the occupancy fees, and litigation challenging the trust reformation has prevented property sales from being completed. Utah Attorney General is considering an appeal of the decision that he calls "strange and surprising" and which he says contains personal and biased misstatements.