Interest in trust property did not make complainant a recipient of banking services

Categories:

Bank decisions, Lending,

Summary:

In 2006, Dory’s partner, Seth, set up a family trust for the benefit of their children, and transferred his property into it. Dory and the children lived at the property, including after Seth’s death two years later. The trust had borrowed from the bank, and the loan was secured by a mortgage over the property. In June 2026, the bank ordered a mortgagee sale of the property due to missed loan repayments. Before the sale, Dory told the bank she had an interest in the trust and its property and had paid the loan for several years. She complained that the bank sold the property despite knowing about her interest in it.

Published:

November 2026

Our investigation

Our rules allow us to consider complaints about banking services only from recipients of those services. The bank’s records showed the trust owned the property and had borrowed from the bank. Dory was not a customer of the bank. Dory maintained she was authorised to act on the trust’s behalf, citing a High Court judgment and a deed executed by her that stated she had been appointed as sole trustee in 2025. The Trust owed a debt to Seth’s estate and the judgment assigned that debt to Dory, with part of the debt held by her on trust for their children. The judgment did not appoint Dory as a trustee or give her authority to appoint or remove trustees. The deed therefore did not establish that Dory could act for the trust.