Cape Town - A dispute over control of a family trust set up in 2007 by an architect who divorced his wife in 2018 and removed her from the trust, leaving two new trustees in control, has been resolved by the Western Cape High Court.
The applicants in the case were Cornelius Meier’s former wife Margo and the two eldest of their four children, who are also trustees.
Cornelius had amended the terms of the trust a number of times. The first amendment in 2008 altered the beneficiaries named in the original trust deed to include Cornelius himself, Margo, their four children and any further children born of the marriage.
This also gave the trustees absolute discretion in regard to the declaration and allocation of any benefits to the named beneficiaries.
Cornelius, who was provisionally sequestrated in 2021, made other changes to the beneficiaries and control without informing Margo.
In later amendments, Cornelius added two other beneficiaries. In 2019 he added his brother-in-law Johan van Zyl and in 2021 his other brother-in-law, Johannes du Toit.
These additions were the last straw for Margo and led to the court case in which Judge Gamble asked: “Who should be in control of the Meier family trust? That is the question that falls for determination in this family dispute.”
The thrust of Margo’s case was that she was unlawfully removed as a trustee.
Judge Gamble agreed with her and said: “I am satisfied that the applicant has made out a case for the relief sought in the notice of motion. Her removal as a trustee was not in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed and is thus unlawful and must be set aside.”
He also ruled that the addition of Van Zyl and Du Toit was unlawful and invalid and ordered the Master’s office to change the records to reflect this.