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.
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.
Protecting Your Inheritance Before You Receive It
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.
Rest Home Care Costs
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.
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
✓ Chart to record loans and repayments
Estate Planning Documents (Included)
✓ Will (coordinated with 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, Memorandum of Wishes, Deed of Gift. | $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. | $276 | $322 |
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 (Coming soon)
Complete the full questionnaire online. Your answers save automatically.
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.
