Trusts Act 2019
As we have previously highlighted there are additional requirements for trustees under the new Trusts Act 2019.
One of the changes relates to requirements around disclosure to beneficiaries. The Act now requires trustees to contact beneficiaries and supply them with basic trust information, including:
- Notify the beneficiary that they are a beneficiary of the trust
- Details of who the trustees of the trust are
- The occurrence of, and details about, any change to the trusteeship; and
- The right to request a copy of the terms of the trust and trust information.
Please note that trust information disclosure requirements do not include the reasons for trustee decisions.
Where a trust deed stipulates “categories” of beneficiaries rather than specific names, i.e., any wife/husband, child or grandchild of the settlor, more information will be required to identify who these beneficiaries are so that disclosure can be made to them.
Another major requirement of trustees is to keep core trust documents including:
- Trust deed setting out the terms of the trust and any variations to those terms
- Letters of wishes by the settlor
- Records of the trust property
- Records of trustee decisions and meeting minutes
- Contracts the trust may be party to
- Accounting and financial statements
- Appointment and removal of trustees and discharge documents
- Other documents necessary for the administration of the trust
All the trusts for which we hold professional trusteeships are now set up in our cloud-based trust management platform, Connectworks. We will be in touch shortly if we require any further information around beneficiaries of your trust, beneficiary disclosure recommendations and how to access/view trust information and sign documents electronically.
At this stage we have limited our Trust Administration Service to those trusts where we are a professional trustee however we will be looking to extend that offering to other clients soon.
In the meantime, if you have a trust, we recommend that you make yourself familiar with the requirements of the new legislation. The new Trusts Act 2019 changes the landscape for trustees with mandatory duties governed by legislation, so doing nothing is not an option.
If you would like to learn more about our Trust Administration Service or need any assistance with your trust, please get in touch.