Get clear advice on setting up a family trust

It helps to think about this in terms of both advice and documents. During the consultation, we discuss the proposed trust structure, the people involved, the intended purpose of the trust, who will act as trustees and how control and decision-making are expected to work. If the arrangement is suitable, we can then prepare or update the core trust documents, including the trust deed and trustee resolutions. The aim is to give you a clearer legal framework for implementation, rather than broad ongoing administration advice.

This service is commonly used by individuals or families who want to hold assets through a trust, review an older trust structure or put clearer governance arrangements in place. Some clients are planning ahead for succession or asset management, while others want to formalise an arrangement that has only been discussed informally. The reasons vary, but the legal questions often centre on control, trustee duties, ownership and how the trust will operate in practice. If your needs are mainly accounting or tax-driven, separate specialist advice may also be needed.

Yes. This service can also suit clients who already have a family trust but want legal advice on whether the current documents still reflect the intended structure and governance. For example, there may have been changes in trustees, family circumstances or the way assets are held. In those cases, we can review the existing position and advise on whether updates to the deed or supporting resolutions are needed. The work remains a defined consultation and document service, rather than open-ended trust management support.

Timing depends on how settled the proposed structure is and how quickly the required information is available. A straightforward matter where the parties, trustees and intended setup are already clear will usually move faster than one involving changes to an existing arrangement or more detailed questions about governance. Once we have the necessary instructions, we can progress the consultation and document work needed for the agreed scope. If further legal work becomes necessary after that, such as additional restructuring steps, it can be handled separately.

The fixed-fee does not cover tax advice, accounting advice, ongoing trust administration or broader representation after the initial work is completed. It also does not automatically include every downstream step that might arise if assets need to be transferred or if related entities are involved. If additional legal work is needed after the consultation and core documents are completed, we can discuss that as a separate matter. Keeping the service defined in this way helps make the immediate legal task and next steps clearer from the outset.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Family Trust Set Up Advice service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.