I don't know if the children live with him, or who the trustee is. So he might be a beneficial owner.
Neither our daughters live with us or anywhere near us, and their trustee is in a different state.
There is a legal reason for setting it up that way. Beneficial ownership is legally ambiguous. When our kids trustee passes, it is a separate twin trustees to keep any liability and beneficial ownership at arms distance.
If the kids live under the roof, they have liability. If the father is the trustee they have liability.
I am not a lawyer, but my cousin won three lawsuits, two ex-husband and including her mother for $100 million. her father set up her trust perfectly and I have her attorney.
I am dangerously knowledgeable