Trustee duties explained
Last updated 25 September 2026
The Trusts Act 2019 sets out the duties every trustee has. Five are mandatory: they apply to every trust and the deed cannot remove them. Ten are default duties: they apply unless the trust deed changes or excludes them. Here they are in plain English.
The five mandatory duties
1. Know the terms of the trust
Every trustee must know what the trust deed says. In practice: have your own copy of the deed and every variation, and read them.
What to keep: Your copy of the deed and variations.
2. Act in line with the terms of the trust
Do what the deed allows and nothing it does not. What people remember the deed saying does not count.
What to keep: Resolutions that refer to the power in the deed being used.
3. Act honestly and in good faith
Make genuine decisions for the trust, at the time, rather than signing off something already done.
What to keep: Minutes written at the time of each decision.
4. Act for the benefit of the beneficiaries
The trust holds its property for the beneficiaries, or for the purpose set out in the deed. It is not the trustees’ own property, even when they live in it.
What to keep: An asset list that shows what belongs to the trust.
5. Use your powers for a proper purpose
Each power in the deed is there for a reason. Use it for that reason, not to get around something else.
What to keep: A short note of the reasons behind important decisions.
The ten default duties
Check your trust deed. Older deeds often do not change these, so in practice they usually apply.
6. Take reasonable care
Use the care and skill a sensible person would use, allowing for any special knowledge you have or say you have.
7. Invest prudently
When investing trust money, take the care a prudent person of business would take with someone else’s money.
8. Do not use a power for your own benefit
This catches trustees who are also beneficiaries, which is common in family trusts. It does not stop you benefiting where the deed allows it.
9. Consider using your powers regularly
Trustees must actually think about whether to use their powers from time to time. An annual review is a simple way to show this.
10. Do not commit future trustees
You cannot promise now how the trustees will use a discretion later.
11. Avoid conflicts of interest
Where your own interests and the beneficiaries’ interests pull in different directions, the trust comes first. Record any conflict and how it was handled.
12. Act impartially
Treat beneficiaries fairly and do not favour one without a proper reason. This often matters in blended families.
13. Do not profit from being a trustee
Unless the deed allows it.
14. Do not take payment
Unless the deed provides for trustee fees.
15. Act unanimously
All trustees agree to each decision, unless the deed allows another way.
Keeping records
Alongside the duties, the Act expects each trustee to keep the trust’s core documents, so far as is reasonable. The trust compliance checklist lists them, and how to manage and maintain your own family trust covers the yearly jobs.