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Trusts Act 2019

Termination and variation of trusts

122: Variation or resettlement of trust by unanimous consent of beneficiaries

You could also call this:

"Changing a trust when all beneficiaries agree to the change."

Illustration for Trusts Act 2019

If you are a beneficiary of a trust, you can ask the trustee to make changes to the trust or to resettle it. The trustee can do this if all the beneficiaries who have an interest in the trust property agree to the change. You must all agree to the change and the trustee must receive a request from each of you. If one of the beneficiaries is someone who needs the court's approval, like a child, the court must make an order approving the change before it can happen. The trustee must also agree to the change. When we talk about making changes to a trust, this includes changing what the trustee is allowed to do. You can read more about this in section 124 and section 125.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7383043.

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121: Termination of trust by unanimous consent of beneficiaries, or

"Ending a trust when all beneficiaries agree"

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Part 6Termination and variation of trusts

122Variation or resettlement of trust by unanimous consent of beneficiaries

  1. A trustee may do either of the following on being required to do so by all of the beneficiaries who together hold all of the beneficial interest in the trust property, if the conditions set out in subsection (2) are satisfied:

  2. vary the terms of the trust:
    1. consent to the resettlement of the trust.

      1. The conditions for an action in subsection (1) are that—

      2. every beneficiary consents to requiring the variation or resettlement; and
        1. the trustee receives a request to vary the terms of the trust or resettle the trust from or on behalf of each beneficiary; and
          1. if any of the beneficiaries is a beneficiary described in section 124(2), the court has made an order under section 124 approving the variation of terms or resettlement on behalf of that beneficiary; and
            1. the trustee has agreed to the proposal.

              1. In this section and in sections 124 and 125, variation includes a change to the scope or nature of the powers of the trustee.