A new trusts bill has been drafted to replace the Trustees Act 1956. The new Trustee Act will update and improve the general law governing trusts – being the first material change in trust legislation for 60 years. The legislation has not yet been passed and is working its way through Parliament. The new Act will not require any changes to be made to existing Trust Deeds, but will instead enhance the current law. The repealed 1956 Act is complex, difficult to understand and does not reflect trust practice. The new Act will largely restate existing law in plain language.
A major focus of the new Act is that it will define trustee duties – both mandatory and default. The new Trust Act will provide a statutory list of key Trust documentation that must be retained and also what information should be provided to beneficiaries, together with a raft of “best practice” requirements.
In order to comply with the new legislation Accounted4 has purchased specialist Trust software to streamline the Administration process. Directors of Accounted4 (or Accounted4 Bare Trustee companies) act as trustees in clients trusts. Where this is the case we will be mailing you an information package to outline the process in light of the new trust law reform.
