The Trusts Act 2019 - How will it impact you?

There are increased compliance obligations on trustees and duties that ensure greater transparency for beneficiaries.

Trusts are common in NZ and the reasons for setting them up vary. The Trusts Act 2019 came into effect on 30 January 2021. Changes to the act aim to made trusts more accessible. There are increased compliance obligations on trustees and duties that ensure greater transparency for beneficiaries.

The changes to the act included: 

• The age of majority (the default age that a person can inherit if not specified) changes from 20 to 18.

• The maximum duration period of a trust is extended from 80 years to 125 years

• Obligations on trustees to keep certain information about trusts

• A mechanism to request the court to review the decisions and actions of trustees

• Flexible powers for trustees to manage trusts.

Trustee duties

Trustees must be aware of their obligations and duties under the law. These are set out in the Trusts Act 2019. There are mandatory duties that are essentially to ensure trustees take their role seriously. These are:

• A trustee must know the terms of the trust

• A trustee must follow the terms of the trust

• A trustee must act honestly, and in good faith

• A trustee must act for the beneficiaries of the trust

• A trustee must exercise the powers they have for a proper purpose.

Optional duties for trustees

The act sets out optional duties that can be changed in the trust deed. If this happens, the advisor must point this out to the settlors.

Duties regarding information keeping and sharing

These duties are regarding the information trustees must keep, and the information that must be made available to beneficiaries (including of trust assets, trustee decisions, and changes to the trust).

The additional compliance duties for trustees within the act may mean that existing trusts are no longer cost effective. Greater transparency may also require trustees to disclose information that they previously did not share.

Get in touch to discuss how the changes impact you through our trust review service.