Law Commission Review of the Powers and Duties of Trustees (submissions due 31 August)
As a part of the Law Commission’s review of the Trustee Act 1956 and trust law generally, the Law Commission has released a fourth Issues Paper, –The Duties, Office and Powers of a Trustee. Click here to be taken to the Issues Paper.
The Issues Paper examines:
- the duties that a trustee owes to beneficiaries of a trust (giving particular attention to the duty to inform beneficiaries about matters relating to the trust);
- which of the duties should be considered part of the irreducible core of the trust (ie which duties should be incapable of being excluded by a trust deed);
- whether there should be limits on the scope of exemption clauses;
- the appointment, retirement and removal of trustees; and
- the powers given to a trustee.
Specific trusts under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 are not examined in detail in the Issues Paper. However, this review (and this Issues Paper in particular) is relevant because the powers and duties of Trustees set out in the Trustee Act 1957 and contained in trust law generally apply equally to trustees of Maori Land Trusts..
The Law Commission is seeking comments and submissions on this paper by 31 August 2011.
A further and final Issues Paper, due for release by the Law Commission in September/October 2011, will address remaining issues such as trading trusts, registration of trusts, Court jurisdiction and obligations of trust advisers. We will provide another update on that Issues Paper once it is released.
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