Ex employer still not removed me from accounts- 11 years!

[Robertwars]

I would be grateful for any words of wisdom here- I left my job ( amicably) 11 years ago . As part of my role I was a signatory on accounts and a trustee for several trusts .

They had plenty of notice I was leaving and I was very happy to sign anything needed to remove my involvement. They were really tardy and it took years and repeated demands and a great deal of stress to get this done and they assured me it had been completed . However , they have been in touch again to say I am still named on some trusts and bank accounts and are asking me to sign more paperwork.

I am so annoyed and upset that this has come up again and concerned about any liability if they have mismanaged anything . I have asked for all the communication relating to this and plan to ask for them to pay for legal advice before I sign anything but wonder if anyone has any other thoughts . Thanks for any suggestions 💐

If you are a named trustee, then you are jointly liable. If it is a CIO or other incorporated charity, then there is limited liability, but still, if anything criminal happened...you would be included.

I would send them a recorded delivery letter stating you are relinquishing yoir duties and keep a record of this. Then at least you can say you tried your best to resolve this.

Trustees are supposed to step down every three years plus have AGM. So if anything criminal happens, they will be in trouble. They are supposed to have a special meeting to discuss you stepping down too.

Have you tried speaking to the bank to remove your name? Have they got more than two signatures?

And yes, this kind of chaos happens all the time in the charity sector!!

You can ask them to pay for legal fees but they dont have to do that unfortunately

You should not need to sign anything to be removed from a bank mandate PROVIDED they have sufficient signatories in place, in line with the signing rules in the mandate to remove you.
if they’ve really cocked it up, they might need your involvement.

if you are registered with the charity commission on any trusts, ask them to register you online (you’ll have to be involved in some backwards and forwards) and then resign your self electronically.

for trusts, as a trustee, it depends how it’s set up and the electronic registration if trusts is changing - so you need to sully understand that.

I do not think it’s unreasonable to ask you former employer to pay for legal advice for you, and you should choose who that comes from, not them, with an agreement in place that you have no responsibility for anything that happened since the date you left their employment.
their choice is that you remain on the trusts, and they provide you with full information and pay you for your time, (which you could charge for at a much higher rate than your previous employment!) or they pay the necessary legal fees to reassure you they aren’t total f*ck-wits!!

you’ve got the control. So don’t be bullied into anything you’re not comfortable with!

perhaps make sure you’ve got it in writing you’ve had no involvement in these trusts since “date” of you haven’t already. Just in case problems do occur before you can get things finalised.

Citizens advice are brilliant with this type of thing. Make an appointment.

You have to be very careful being a trustee. You can be held personally liable for any mismanagement of the trust whether you knew or not. You should really have had legal advice about the ramifications of being a trustee before you agreed to do it. Regarding legal costs, what does the deed of trust say on that? This may set out what costs of trustees the trust is responsible for. If there isn't anything in there you may just need to pay for your own legal advice. But please do seek it ASAP as this is a minefield and carries quite a bit of risk for you as others have said.

£1000 a signature. Plus expenses and legal advice.

I had to get signatories removed for a charity bank account and they asked for more information at that point than they did when being put on! It's because once you're a signatory you (all) need to sign off on all changes, including your own removal.

It might be possible to do it without but this is what that bank directly told me. It's very counterintuitive!

Do not sign anything at all. They are taking the Mickey and you could be liable. They must remove you from everything.

That sounds a good starting point- they have totally run out of any good will with me by now

11 years!! I’d tell them I won’t be signing. I think 6 months would be my limit!!

I can't even access the Deeds but have asked for copies so will check as soon as I do . Yes, the liability is what is really worrying me .

I think they owe you money. They should have paid you if you had a role as trustee !!

Thank you - all of this is really helping .
Everyone who has commented has really helped me to get a determined plan in place and feel less isolated- the whole thing has really got me down and has just felt like i was going in circles so it's great to have some support and input 💐💐

I agree , there should definitely be something !

Who are your employers?

Not in terms of there name but might they be some sort of 'Regulated' organisation eg Lawyer, Accountant etc or a Local Authority with a complaints procedure

Who are you communicating with? What position do they hold in the company. Any CFO or FD should not allow this all to happen.
I suggest an email and a recorded letter, so there's a paper trail. Ask for proof of confirmation that you have been removed.

They still have you as a signatory so is there 11 years of wages to be paid ? If consult a solicitor here as I'm assuming anything dodgy you're still tied to the company and threatening financial compensation may just give them a kick up the arse ......but id seriously consult lawyer and see if there's a payout here because of liability.

It seems dodgy to me. They knew you end of employment date and should have had you removed on date you left company. I'd be worried they have been doing dodgy dealings.

I have also been in a similar situation and had arguments with a bank. You cannot take yourself off as a signatory- only the directors can do this. It is all so very strange. I would absolutely refuse to sign at this point. Not your problem to solve but I would sned a strongly worded email saying your role ended on x date and you are to be removed.

Ask them what fee they’re willing to pay you for your time, then ask for more, they’ll soon make the necessary changes.

Plus all the above about it sounding dodgy etc.

In addition to legal advise I would be tempted to explain, if they are not willing to support this or remove you, that you will only sign if you fully understand what you are signing for, why, and any ramifications for doing so. To enable this they must be willing to pay for all your time required to get to this point with you as a contractor. Hopefully this might help focus their minds.

Thanks everyone- I have sent them a full time line of events and requested that they pay for legal advice. I will update when they get back to me - I won't be signing anything until I have independent input

11 years!! Wow. Dont sign anything! I'd consider telling the bank(s)
myself that you are not a signatory. Also, if I read correctly and you are also a trustee they should have told the Charity Commission years ago that you had resigned. You can check yourself and if you are still registered I woukd ask them to remove in writing and if they don't, I'd contact the CC myself.

I know it’s annoying but I would probably engage my own solicitor for advice. If they engage the solicitor, then they are the client not you, and this may affect the advice provided. Also, if there any issues, you wouldn’t be the client so wouldn’t be able to go to the Ombudsman etc.

Role of trustee is a volunteer role usually. But they should pay put of pocket expenses which I would consider this to be