You're a trustee. Here's what that actually requires
Being named a trustee in mum and dad's trust deed isn't a compliment — it's a legal role with duties you can't contract out of.
The five duties you cannot escape
The mandatory duties (ss 23–27): know the terms of the trust; act in accordance with them; act honestly and in good faith; act for the benefit of beneficiaries or the trust's permitted purpose; and exercise your powers for proper purposes. No deed clause can remove these — a trustee who signs whatever they're handed is breaching duty number one.
The default duties (and how deeds modify them)
The Act adds default duties — general care, investment prudence, impartiality between beneficiaries, avoiding conflicts, acting unanimously, not profiting — which the deed can modify or exclude. Read your deed against the list once: knowing which defaults have been switched off is half of understanding your actual job.
The paper you must hold
Every trustee must keep (or know who holds) the core documents: the deed and variations, records of trust property, decisions, contracts, accounting records, letters of wishes. If the answer to 'where are the trust's records?' is a shrug, that's the first thing to fix — it's also the first thing examined when anything is challenged.
A safe annual routine
Once a year: review the assets and any distributions, minute the decisions actually made (even 'no distributions this year'), confirm insurance and property records, and consider — genuinely — what information beneficiaries should receive. An hour a year of hygiene is what separates a defensible trust from an expensive fiction.
A trust question of your own?
Trustee duties, beneficiary rights, disclosure, winding up — ask in plain words, get an answer with the Trusts Act sections to prove it, plus draft letters. First question free.
Ask NZ Trust Answers →FAQ
Can I be liable personally as a trustee?
Yes — trustees contract personally and can be personally liable for breaches, though deeds commonly include indemnities from trust assets for honest conduct. Dishonesty and gross negligence indemnities are limited by the Act.
Do we really have to tell beneficiaries anything?
There's a presumption each beneficiary is told the trust exists, who the trustees are, and their right to request information — rebuttable only after weighing the Act's listed factors, and 'we'd rather not' isn't one of them.
Am I doing this right?
Describe how your trust actually runs to NZ Trust Answers and get a gap list against the Act, sections cited. First question free.
General information, not legal advice for your specific situation.
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