Estate of dead FLDS leader seeks control of trust

Salt Lake City, USA - Attorneys for the estate of deceased polygamous church leader Rulon Jeffs are asking a judge to return control of a communal land trust to the church's governing body.

In court papers filed Monday, attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints say the properties held by the United Effort Plan Trust belong to the Corporation of the President.

The Utah courts took control of the trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Warren Jeffs, the current FLDS president and Rulon Jeffs' son.

The court revamped the trust in 2006, stripping out its religious purpose.

FLDS attorney Rod Parker says the trust was mishandled and the decision denied Rulon Jeffs' estate and the church corporation a right to due process.