Trust-Based Estate Planning
Protect What Matters Most — For the People Who Matter Most
A trust-based estate and asset protection plan is the most powerful tool available for protecting your assets from relationship property claims, creditors, and aged care means testing — while ensuring your wishes are carried out, exactly as you intend.
More Than a Will — Complete Asset Protection
A will tells people what you want to happen when you die. A trust protects your assets while you are alive — and after you are gone.
A trust-based estate and asset protection plan combines a family trust with a comprehensive set of supporting documents — wills, enduring powers of attorney, a memorandum of wishes, and optional business and inheritance trusts — into a single, coordinated plan designed to protect your assets and carry out your wishes.
Assets held in a properly structured trust are protected from relationship property claims in the event of a separation, from creditors if a business runs into difficulty, and from means-testing for residential aged care. A trust also gives you control over how assets pass to the next generation — including protecting children's inheritances from their own relationship breakdowns.
We specialise in trust-based estate planning. Our plans are prepared using our own online questionnaire system — you complete the information from the comfort of your home, at your own pace. We review everything, prepare your documents, and arrange a signing appointment that suits you — in Auckland, or via Zoom from anywhere in New Zealand.
Do You Need a Trust-Based Estate Plan?
A trust may be worth considering if any of the following apply to you.
Home or Properties
You own or plan to own a family home, rental properties, or a bach.
Business or Professional Risk
You run a business or face professional liability exposure.
Blended Family
You have children from previous relationships and want to balance fairness with protection.
Second Relationship
You are in a new relationship and want to protect pre-relationship assets for your own children.
Vulnerable Beneficiaries
You have a child or family member with a disability, health issue, or spending risk.
Generational Wealth
You want assets to stay in the family line across generations, not pass out through relationships.
Recognise your situation? Our complete guide works through each of these with real-life examples — how to choose your plan →
Three Quiet Mechanisms That Do the Protecting
Your Will Pours Into the Trust
Your will leaves any assets still outside the trust to the trust on your death — automatically enriching the trust and keeping everything protected, without any extra step from you.
Inheritances Arrive Already Protected
When a loved one leaves your inheritance directly to your trust rather than to you personally, it is never yours — so it can never be taken from you. Creditors, relationship claims, and rest home means testing cannot touch something you never owned.
Growth and Gifting Stay Outside Means Testing
Assets given to the trust by relatives, all increases in value of trust assets, and your annual gifts of up to $27,000 (whether you are single or a couple — this is MSD's limit either way) are protected from rest home means testing. The sooner the trust is established, the greater the protection — see the current rules →
What Your Plan Includes
Core Trust Documents
✓ Trust Deed (tailored to your trust type)
✓ Memorandum of Wishes
✓ Deed of Loan / Sale of Assets
✓ Initial Deed of Gift
✓ Initial Trustee Minutes
✓ Running instructions, incl. template future minutes
✓ Chart to record loans and repayments
Estate Planning Documents (Included)
✓ Simple will leaving assets to the Trust
✓ EPA for Property
✓ EPA for Welfare
✓ Advance Health Care Directives
Which Trust Will Achieve Your Objectives?
All fees include GST. Our online quote tool gives you a personalised fixed-price quote in minutes.
| Trust Type | Best For / What's Included | Individual | Couple |
| Family Trust (Discretionary) |
Most families. Flexible — all decisions at trustees' discretion. Includes trust deed, will(s), 2 EPAs each, advance health care directives, Memorandum of Wishes, Deed of Gift, and running instructions with template minutes. | $2,200 | $2,750 |
| Defined Interest Trust | Where beneficiaries need defined percentage shares — e.g. children from different relationships. Includes all of the above. | $2,700 | $3,500 |
| Multi-Generational Trust | Holding assets across generations. Capital stays in the trust permanently. Includes all of the above. | $3,200 | $4,250 |
| Parallel Trusts (couple only) |
One trust each — for couples where each partner has separate children and wants assets completely separated. Two separate trust deeds with supporting documents. | — | $5,400 |
| + Business / Investment Trust (per trust) | Holds business or investment assets separately from family assets. Trust deed, Memorandum of Wishes, initial minutes. | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| + Inheritance Trust (per trust) | Protects a child's inheritance from their own relationship breakdowns. Trust deed, Memorandum of Wishes, initial minutes. | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| + Special Disability Trust (per trust) | For the benefit of a person with a severe disability. Trust deed, Memorandum of Wishes, initial minutes. | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| + Trustee Company (per company, if required) | A private trustee company — never dies or loses capacity. | $520 | $520 |
| AML Compliance (all new clients) | Required for all new estate planning clients under the AML/CFT Act. Plus $46 per additional person verified. | $276 | $322 |
These fees apply only if you complete our DYOdocs online questionnaires. They are discounted fees including GST, payable on the date first set for signing; normal fees (20% more) apply if not paid within 7 days. Additional fees apply for toll calls, Land Titles Office search fees, courier and bank fees, taxation and GST costs on asset sales, and attendances with you or your other advisers at our normal hourly rates.
Download full fees chart (PDF) → | Learn about each trust type in detail → | About AML compliance →
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Complete Your Questionnaire
Once you've accepted your quote and Terms of Engagement, complete the online questionnaire from the comfort of your own home. It takes 30–90 minutes depending on your trust type, and saves automatically — stop and return anytime.
Online Questionnaire
Complete the full questionnaire online. Your answers save automatically. Launching very soon.
Preparation Guide
Download first to see what information you'll need before starting online.
The preparation guide follows the same section order as the online questionnaire.
Have ready: full legal names, dates of birth, IRD numbers, asset details and your accountant's contact information — see the full what-you'll-need checklist →
Free Tools to Help You Get Started
Will & Trust Planner
Answer a few questions about your family, assets and goals, and get a personalised starter report on which plan looks right for you.
Free Trust-Based Assessment
Create a free report on the documents you need for a trust-based estate plan.
Our Complete Guide
The two plans compared, real-life examples, trust myths busted, and the current care-cost rules — in plain English.
Explore Further
Plan & Compare
Types of Trusts Explained
Family, Defined Interest, Multi-Generational, Parallel — which one is right for you?
Will-Based Estate Plans
A comprehensive will and EPA package — simpler than a trust, and right for many people.
Charitable Trusts
Structure your giving for long-term impact — standalone or within your family trust.
Estate Planning Overview
Not sure where to start? See all your options in one place.
Trust Myths — Busted
"Trusts don't work any more" and the other old wives' tales, answered honestly.
How Our Questionnaire Works
Complete your estate planning information from home, at your own pace.
Running & Protecting Your Trust
Reviewing Your Trust
Is your trust still doing the job you think it does? Laws change, families change — a regular review makes sure your trust keeps up.
Administering Your Trust
Practical guidance for trustees on their duties under the Trusts Act 2019.
Alter Ego Trusts
Retaining too much control can undermine your trust's protection. Find out whether yours is at risk.
Sham Trusts
If a trust was never genuinely intended, it can be declared a sham — with serious consequences.
Trusts & Section 182
How nuptial settlements can be revisited after divorce or civil union dissolution.
Invalidity of Trusts
The three certainties and when a trust can be declared invalid — and what happens to the assets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A will is still essential. It deals with any assets not held in the trust, appoints executors, and can include instructions such as guardians for children. We make sure your wills and trusts are properly coordinated — your will leaves your estate to the trust, completing the protection.
It can be straightforward, but needs to be done carefully. We prepare the necessary sale, loan and gift documents and work with your other advisers to manage any tax or other implications.
A family trust is a single flexible trust for a couple or individual. Parallel trusts are two separate trusts — one for each partner — typically used where each partner wants to keep their pre-relationship assets separate and protect their own children. Learn more about trust types →
Yes. We regularly review trusts prepared by other firms. We can assess whether your trust complies with the Trusts Act 2019, still provides the protection you expect, and reflects your current wishes. Learn about our trust review service →
Typically 2–4 weeks from questionnaire completion to signing, depending on the complexity of your plan and how quickly you return information. We keep you informed at every stage.
Very little, in most cases. Your plan includes plain-English running instructions and template minutes so the trustees can handle the administration themselves. There are no locked-in annual fees and no ongoing fees unless you consult us — you are not tied to us. If you want help, our optional services include annual deeds of gift ($360 per person per year) and simple trust tax returns (from $400 plus GST).