I have a few questions regarding partnerships and estates in
Colorado.
Basic background --- My grandfather passed away 7 years ago and had,
as near as I can tell, a trust set up for his property. In that
trust,
the land was left to a partnership, an LLC, which then owned the
land.
The members of the LLC were his 2 sons and daughter who are still
alive and myself. My understanding is because of the way the trust
was
set up, since my father had passed away prior to grandpa, I became
the
next heir in line for my father's share. I found this out on the day
of my grandfather's funeral. At that point in time, it was decided
that we would hang on to the property and that my uncle, also the
general partner in the LLC, would try to run a cattle business on
the
property and that all of the heirs would receive part of the
profits.
We signed some paperwork that was filed with the IRS putting the
property into agricultural use, that kept us from paying inheritance
taxes. The first year or so I received some payments from my uncle
that I assumed were my share of the profits as had been discussed.
Over time these quit coming. Conversations with my uncle were like
pulling teeth, "Things haven't worked out quite the way we
planned.",
"We are waiting to sell the cattle.", "We have other projects in the
works for use of the land.", etc...
I have yet to get copies of any documentation from him regarding the
trust, will, or anything. About a year ago, I found out from another
source that a bank was foreclosing on the property, and that it was
in
my cousins name. He has kept the property out of foreclosure to this
point.
My questions are; What can or can't a general partner do in acting
for
a corporation?
That question is too broad. It would take a textbook to answer it.
Could my uncle have done something legally with the
property without any of the rest of us knowing about it?
It's possible. But there is no way to tell you specifically what
could have been done without seeing the LLC documents and asking a few
dozen questions about the LLC and it's ownership.
What kind of
recourse do the rest of us have?
Impossible to answer without more facts concerning what was done.
What rights do we have in getting
copies of the trust, property documents, and any other information
from him?
There are lots of very effective ways for the members of an LLC to get
company documents, and for beneficiaries of a trust to get the trust
documents. But I don't know whether you are a member of the LLC or a
beneficiary of a trust. I would need to see the documents and ask a
lot of questions.
Everything that has happened has caught me completely by
surprise and it seems that it has also surprised my other uncle. Not
sure if my aunt even knows what is going on.
So, what you need to do is make an appointment with, select and hire a
business law attorney as soon as possible. There may be statutes of
limitations involved, and I don't know what they are, so don't delay.
I can't tell from your post whether any wrongdoing has occurred. But
there is enough of a smell to your uncle's statements that I think you
should see an attorney about the situation. I don't think you should
try to handle it yourself because you seem to be naive about this sort
of thing. For example, LLC's are not corporations and neither LLC's
nor corporations have general partners. I'm not being insulting -you
are not expected to know any of that stuff. It's simply that you need
the help of someone who does know. It would be unwise of you to take
a few tips from the newsgroup about how to obtain documents, and try
to do something with that lore. There are a thousand ways that a
ruthless and knowledgeable uncle could butcher the rights of a person
in your circumstances. I urge you to see a business law attorney
ASAP, and without warning your uncle or anyone else that you are about
to do so.
McGyver
