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Question Details: I have been advised that a trust does not take immediate effect and has to be in place for 5 years for it to be legal. Is this correct?
Filed under Wills/Estates | 1762 View(s)
Community Law Wellington & Hutt Valley
A trust can take effect whenever the trust document states it will take effect (as long as it is not a date in the past). So it can take effect from the first day it is created if that is what the trust document says.
It is true, however, that there are some laws which stop trusts from meeting their goals quickly or which allow trusts to be "undone" in some circumstances (for example, if you are trying to gift a lot of money to a trust to avoid paying for a rest home). You need to get legal advice about the trust you are creating and whether it can achieve its goals. Click here to search for a property lawyer in your area: www.propertylawyers.org.nz.
Answered 28 Jan 2013. The IMPORTANT NOTICE below is part of this answer.
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