Trustees have certain obligations for record-keeping and notifiable information.
Download our guide on Trustees' obligations for record-keeping and notifying the Trust of basic information.
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The below information is available to download as a pdf
A Trustee must keep core documents
Each trustee of a trust must keep, so far as is reasonable, the following documents relating to the trust
the trust deed and any other document that contains the terms of the trust
any variations made to the trust deed or trust
records of the trust property that identify the assets, liabilities, income, and expenses of the trust and that are appropriate to the value and complexity of the trust property
any records of trustee decisions made during the trustee’s trusteeship
any written contracts entered into during that trustee’s trusteeship
any accounting records and financial statements prepared during that trustee’s trusteeship
documents of appointment, removal, and discharge of trustees (including any court orders appointing or removing trustees)
any letter or memorandum of wishes from the settlor
any other documents necessary for the administration of the trust
any documents referred to in the paragraphs above that were kept by a former trustee during that person’s trusteeship and passed on to the current trustee.
Presumption that a Trustee must notify basic trust information
There is a presumption that a trustee must make available to every beneficiary or representative of a beneficiary the basic trust information set out below.
However,—
• before giving the information, the trustee must consider the presumption factors set out on the next page and
• if the trustee reasonably considers (after taking into account those factors) that the information should not be made available to every beneficiary,—
the presumption does not apply; and
the trustee may decide to withhold some or all of the basic trust information from 1 or more particular beneficiaries or classes of beneficiaries.
The basic trust information is:
the fact that a person is a beneficiary of the trust; and
the name and contact details of the trustee; and
the occurrence of, and details of, each appointment, removal, and retirement of a trustee as it occurs; and
the right of the beneficiary to request a copy of the terms of the trust or trust information.
A trustee is required to consider at reasonable intervals whether the trustee should be making the basic trust information available under this section.
Presumption factors
The factors that the trustee must consider are as follows:
the nature of the interests in the trust held by the beneficiary and the other beneficiaries of the trust, including the degree and extent of the beneficiary’s interest in the trust and the likelihood of the beneficiary receiving trust property in the future:
whether the information is subject to personal or commercial confidentiality:
the expectations and intentions of the settlor at the time of the creation of the trust (if known) as to whether the beneficiaries as a whole and the beneficiary in particular would be given information:
the age and circumstances of the beneficiary:
the age and circumstances of the other beneficiaries of the trust:
the effect on the beneficiary of giving the information:
the effect on the trustees, other beneficiaries of the trust, and third parties of giving the information:
in the case of a family trust, the effect of giving the information on—
relationships within the family:
the relationship between the trustees and some or all of the beneficiaries to the detriment of the beneficiaries as a whole:
in a trust that has a large number of beneficiaries or unascertainable beneficiaries, the practicality of giving information to all beneficiaries or all members of a class of beneficiaries:
the practicality of imposing restrictions and other safeguards on the use of the information (for example, by way of an undertaking, or restricting who may inspect the documents):
the practicality of giving some or all of the information to the beneficiary in redacted form:
if a beneficiary has requested information, the nature and context of the request:
any other factor that the trustee reasonably considers is relevant to determining whether the presumption applies.
Trustee must give information on request
There is a presumption that a trustee must within a reasonable period of time give a beneficiary or the representative of a beneficiary the trust information that person has requested.
However,—
before giving the information, the trustee must consider the presumption factors set out above; and
if the trustee reasonably considers (after taking into account those factors) that the information should not be given to the person,—
the presumption does not apply; and
the trustee may decide to refuse the request for trust information.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and should not replace specific tax advice. For personalised advice please contact us.
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