A charitable trust estimated to be worth more than $100 million will no longer be operated solely to benefit the leadership of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The United Effort Plan Trust will continue to be overseen by court appointed fiduciary Bruce Wisan, but Judge Denise Lindberg ordered last week that the trust be operated in accordance with its original purpose, the benefit of church members, and to that end she appointed a six-person advisory board to assist Wisan in coming up with a plan of operation.
The UEP holds title to much of the property in the twin towns of Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT, where most of the estimated 10,000 members of the FLDS church call home. Judge Lindberg stripped the former board of directors of their power last June after finding that the trust was not being operated in accordance with its original intent.
None of the former members of the UEP board was returned to power last week, instead Judge Lindberg appointed a university president and five former members of the FLDS church, none of whom are loyal to the church’s fugitive prophet Warren Jeffs.
