Home
Acts
Trusts Act 2019
Trustees’ duties and information obligations
Duties of trustee
Mandatory duties
26: Duty to act for benefit of beneficiaries or to further permitted purpose of trust

Part 1:
General provisions

3Purpose 4Principles 5Application, and relationship of Act with trust terms, common law and equity, and other enactments 6Overview of this Act 7Interpretation of Act 8Inherent jurisdiction of court not affected 9Definitions 10Transitional, savings, and related provisions 11Act binds the Crown

Part 2:
Express trusts

12Meaning of express trust 13Characteristics of express trust 14Sole trustee cannot be sole beneficiary 15Creation of express trust 16Maximum duration of trust 17Application of maximum duration rule to resettlements 18Accumulation of income by trust 19Distribution of trust property on expiry of trust 20Age of majority

Part 3:
Trustees’ duties and information obligations

Duties of trustee

21Guiding principle in performing duties

Mandatory duties

22Mandatory duties 23Duty to know terms of trust 24Duty to act in accordance with terms of trust 25Duty to act honestly and in good faith 26Duty to act for benefit of beneficiaries or to further permitted purpose of trust 27Duty to exercise powers for proper purpose

Default duties

28Default duties 29General duty of care 30Duty to invest prudently 31Duty not to exercise power for own benefit 32Duty to consider exercise of power 33Duty not to bind or commit trustees to future exercise of discretion 34Duty to avoid conflict of interest 35Duty of impartiality 36Duty not to profit 37Duty to act for no reward 38Duty to act unanimously 39Adviser must alert settlor to modification or exclusion of default duty

Exemption and indemnity clauses

40Restriction on trustee exemption clauses 41Restriction on trustee indemnity clauses 42Invalidity of exemption clause or indemnity clause 43Adviser must alert settlor to liability exclusion or indemnity clause 44Court consideration of gross negligence

Trustees’ obligations to keep and give trust information

Documents to be kept by trustees

45Trustee must keep core documents 46Keeping documents where there is more than 1 trustee 47Documents must be kept for duration of trusteeship 48Trustee must pass on documents

Giving information to beneficiaries

49Definitions for purposes of sections 50 to 55 50Purpose and application of sections 51 to 55 51Presumption that trustee must notify basic trust information 52Presumption that trustee must give information on request 53Procedure for deciding whether presumption applies 54Procedure when trustee decides to give no information 55Beneficiary may be required to pay cost of giving information

Part 4:
Trustees’ powers and indemnities

Powers of trustee

56General powers of trustee 57Status of provisions on specific powers of trustee

Trustees’ indemnities

81Trustee’s liability for expenses and liabilities incurred, and trustee’s right to indemnity 82Indemnification of trustee with agreement of beneficiaries where indemnity impaired 83Power of court to approve indemnification 84Power of court to waive requirement of consent to indemnification 85Ranking of trust property 86Creditor’s limited claim to trust property through trustee’s indemnity 87Trustee’s lien on insurance money for premiums 88Trustee’s indemnity for rent, covenant, or agreement under lease 89Protection of trustee in handing over personal property to life tenant 90Protection of trustee in handing over personal property to child 91Protection relating to notice when person trustee of more than 1 trust

Part 5:
Appointment and discharge of trustees

Power to remove or to appoint trustee

92Who may remove trustee and appoint replacement 93Person with power to remove or appoint trustee may apply to court for directions 94Duty to exercise power to remove or appoint trustee honestly and for proper purpose 95Application to review exercise of power to remove or to appoint trustee

Appointment of trustee

96Who may be appointed as trustee 97Statutory trustee may be sole trustee 98How trustee is appointed 99How trustee accepts or rejects appointment 100Acts of trustee not invalidated by defect in appointment

Retirement of trustee

101How trustee retires

Death of trustee

102Devolution of powers on death of trustee

Removal of trustee

103How trustee is removed 104Compulsory removal of trustee 105Optional removal of trustee 106Notice of decision to remove 107Effect of notice 108Removal where notice cannot be given 109Application to prevent removal 110Procedure on trustee’s application to prevent removal 111Court may make order preventing removal 112Court may make order for removal

Replacement of trustee

113How trustee is replaced 114Court may appoint or replace trustee 115Replacing sole trustee with multiple trustees

Divesting and vesting of trust property

116Divesting and vesting of trust property on change of trustees 117Requirements to notify, register, or record divesting and vesting of trust property 118Requirement to assist in transfer of trust property 119Protection in relation to notifying, registering, or recording transfer of trust property 120Departing trustee must be given certain documents

Part 6:
Termination and variation of trusts

121Termination of trust by unanimous consent of beneficiaries 122Variation or resettlement of trust by unanimous consent of beneficiaries 123Beneficiary’s right to share of trust property 124Power of court to approve termination, variation, or resettlement of trust 125Power of court to waive requirement of consent to termination, variation, or resettlement of trust

Part 7:
Court powers and dispute resolution

126Court may review trustee's act, omission, or decision 127Procedure for court’s review of trustee’s act, omission, or decision 128Court may take into account investment strategy in action for breach of trust 129Court may set off gains and losses arising from investment 130Power of court to vary or extend trustees’ powers in relation to property 131Court may relieve trustee from personal liability 132Court may make beneficiary indemnify trustee for breach of trust 133Trustee may apply to court for directions 134Protection of trustee while acting under direction of court 135Trustee may apply to court to bar claims 136Trustee may apply to court to allow distribution of missing beneficiaries’ shares 137Trustee may sue self in different capacity 138Court may appoint receiver for trust 139Court may order payment of remuneration to trustee 140Court may charge costs on trust property

Jurisdiction of Family Court

141Jurisdiction of Family Court

Alternative dispute resolution

142Definitions for purposes of sections 143 to 148 143Power of trustee to refer matter to alternative dispute resolution process 144ADR process for internal matter if trust has beneficiaries who are unascertained or lack capacity 145Power of court to order ADR process for internal matter 146Trustee may give undertakings for purposes of ADR settlement or arbitration agreement and any arbitral award 147Trustee’s liability in relation to ADR settlement or arbitration agreement and any arbitral award limited 148Application of Arbitration Act 1996

Part 8:
Miscellaneous provisions

Transfer to the Crown

149Transfer to the Crown of non-distributable trust property 150Financial products transferred to the Crown 151Administration by the Crown of transferred property 152Public notice of property transferred to the Crown

Investigation of condition and accounts of certain trust property

153Application to Public Trust for investigation of condition and accounts of trust property 154Appointment of investigator by Public Trust 155How investigator is to conduct and report on investigation 156Costs of investigation borne by trustees 157Application to court to determine who bears costs of investigation 158Application to court to cease investigation

Life tenant to have powers of trustee in certain cases

159Life tenant to have powers of trustee in certain cases

Transitional regulations

160Regulations providing for transitional matters

Consequential amendments and repeals

161Consequential amendments 162Repeals

Part 9:
Amendments to other Acts

Amendments to Arbitration Act 1996

163Amendments to Arbitration Act 1996 164New section 10A inserted (Arbitration of trust matters)

Amendments to Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013

165Amendments to Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 166New section 110A and cross-heading inserted 167Section 112 amended (General duties applying in exercise of supervisor’s functions)168Section 143 amended (General duties applying in exercise of manager’s functions)169Section 153 amended (General duties applying in exercise of supervisor’s functions)170New section 155A and cross-heading inserted 171Section 548 amended (Other regulations)172Section 550 amended (Procedural requirements for regulations relating to exemptions, exclusions, and definitions)173Section 556 amended (FMA may grant exemptions)174Section 557 amended (Restriction on FMA’s exemption power)175Schedule 3 amended

Amendments to Financial Advisers Act 2008

176Amendments to Financial Advisers Act 2008 177New section 77TA and cross-heading inserted 178Section 154 amended (General regulations)

Amendment to Financial Markets Authority Act 2011

179Amendment to Financial Markets Authority Act 2011 180Schedule 1 amended

Amendments to Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019

181Amendments to Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019 182Section 29 amended (New subparts 5A and 5B of Part 6 inserted)

Amendment to Retirement Villages Act 2003

183Amendment to Retirement Villages Act 2003 184New section 105A inserted (Regulations exempting from provisions of Trusts Act 2019)

Schedule 1:
Transitional, savings, and related provisions

Schedule 2:
Provisions that apply except as modified or excluded in accordance with section 5(4)

Schedule 3:
Specified commercial trusts

Schedule 4:
Amendments consequential on repeal of Trustee Act 1956

Schedule 5:
Amendments consequential on repeal of Perpetuities Act 1964 and abolition of rule against perpetuities

Trusts Act 2019

Trustees’ duties and information obligations - Duties of trustee - Mandatory duties

26: Duty to act for benefit of beneficiaries or to further permitted purpose of trust

You could also call this:

"Trustees must make decisions to help the people who benefit from the trust or achieve its purpose."

When you are a trustee, you have a job to do. You must manage the trust property and make decisions that help the people who benefit from the trust, following the rules of the trust. If the trust is set up for a specific purpose, you must make decisions that help achieve that purpose, again following the trust's rules.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 18 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7382905.

Topics:

Money and consumer rights > Banking and loans

25: Duty to act honestly and in good faith, or

"Be honest and fair when making decisions as a trustee"

27: Duty to exercise powers for proper purpose, or

"Trustees must use their powers for the right reasons, not for personal gain."

Part 3Trustees’ duties and information obligations
Duties of trustee: Mandatory duties

26Duty to act for benefit of beneficiaries or to further permitted purpose of trust

A trustee must hold or deal with trust property and otherwise act—
for the benefit of the beneficiaries, in accordance with the terms of the trust:
in the case of a trust for a permitted purpose, to further the permitted purpose of the trust, in accordance with the terms of the trust.