This book is only available in PDF format

Author: Aimee Mitchell
Published: 8 May 2024
Pages: 27

Introduction

The legal and political landscape for trusts has evolved significantly over the last five-ten years. Firstly, the introduction of the Trusts Act 2019 brought about a new level of awareness about the duties and obligations of trustees and introduced new processes and procedures for the disclosure of trust information.

Following the introduction of the Act, we have seen changes to the tax legislation increasing the level of disclosure made by trustees to the IRD, and of course, the most recent changes to the trustee tax rate.

Understandably, many settlors and trustees are considering these changes, weighing the additional costs and obligations, and reassessing their need for a trust. Many are wondering whether there remain any advantages for them to retaining their trusts. This paper considers when it may be appropriate to bring a trust to an end, the means by which a trust may be wound up and practical issues that practitioners need to keep in mind when winding up a trust.

This paper considers issues relating to the winding up of private express trusts. Additional rules apply to the winding up of charitable trusts and superannuation trusts. Those additional rules are not covered in this paper.

Content outline

• Winding up a trust
• How can the trust be wound up?
• Practical issues and considerations