Forced Heirship and Trusts in Mauritius

Forced heirship in Mauritius is the rule that a person cannot freely give away the whole of their estate: a portion is set aside by law for specific close relatives, known as reserved heirs. Families who consider a trust or a foundation almost always ask the same question: does the structure sit inside this rule, or outside it? The honest answer is that it depends on who the settlor or founder is, where the assets are, and what the law says about the person concerned.

This page sets out how the system works, who the reserved heirs are, and how the Trusts Act 2001 and the Foundations Act 2012 deal with succession rules. It gives general information only. Whether a particular transfer is safe from a challenge by a reserved heir is a question for a qualified adviser who has seen the family's facts.

How forced heirship works in Mauritian succession law

Mauritian succession law is rooted in the Civil Code, which follows the continental tradition rather than the English common law. Under that tradition, an estate is split into two parts. One part, the reserved portion, goes by operation of law to certain heirs. The other, the disposable portion, can be left to anyone through a will or a lifetime gift.

Three consequences follow for family planning:

• A will cannot override the reserved portion. A clause that tries to leave everything to one child, or to a friend, is open to reduction once the estate is settled.
• Lifetime gifts are not automatically safe. A gift that eats into the reserved portion can be brought back into the calculation when the person dies.
• The rules apply to the estate as a whole, which is why they are tested when an asset that left the person's hands during life is later said to have reduced the share of a reserved heir.

The exact size of each reserved share depends on the number and category of heirs. We deliberately do not quote fractions here: they should be checked against the current text of the Civil Code and applied to a real family by an adviser. For a wider view of how estates pass when there is no planning at all, see who inherits when there is no will in Mauritius.

Who counts as a reserved heir

In broad terms, reserved heirs are the closest members of the family: children, and in some situations a surviving spouse or other ascendants. The position of a spouse depends on the family's circumstances and on the matrimonial regime, so it is worth reading about surviving spouse inheritance rights and matrimonial regimes and your family assets before drawing any conclusion.

Children born outside marriage are also part of the picture; their position is covered in inheritance rights of children born outside marriage. A parent who wonders whether a child can simply be left out should read can you disinherit a child in Mauritius, which looks at that specific question.

Which law governs the estate

Forced heirship is not applied in the same way to everyone. The law that governs an estate can depend on the person's domicile, nationality and the location of the assets. Immovable property in Mauritius is the area where local rules are hardest to avoid. A foreigner who owns property on the island should read wills for foreigners owning assets in Mauritius alongside this page, because a foreign will and a Mauritian asset do not always combine neatly.

Where a trust or foundation enters the picture

A trust or a foundation changes who legally holds assets. A settlor transfers property to a trustee, or a founder endows a foundation, and the person who made the transfer no longer owns what was transferred. The legal question is then whether, at death, a reserved heir can look through that structure and claim that the transfer was an attempt to avoid the reserved portion.

Mauritian legislation addresses this question directly, but in a limited way. Two provisions are central.

The Trusts Act 2001

Under the Trusts Act 2001, the transfer of assets to a trust by a settlor who is not a Mauritian citizen cannot be annulled on the basis of the succession rules of that settlor's domicile or nationality. The settlor's home-country forced heirship rules therefore do not, by themselves, unwind the transfer.

The same Act sets out who the settlor can be. A settlor may also act as trustee, beneficiary, protector or enforcer, but cannot be the sole beneficiary of the trust they created. That limit matters for succession: a structure in which the settlor keeps everything and benefits alone is not what the Act contemplates. The role is explained in the settlor: role and limits.

The Act also presumes that a trust is irrevocable by the settlor and the settlor's legal representative, unless the deed expressly provides for revocation. This matters because a trust that the settlor can unwind at will looks much more like the settlor's own property than a true transfer. The practical differences are explored in revocable vs irrevocable trust.

The Foundations Act 2012

The Foundations Act 2012 contains a parallel rule. The transfer of assets by a founder who is not a Mauritian citizen cannot be annulled under the succession rules of the founder's domicile or nationality. A foundation may pursue charitable or non-charitable objects for the benefit of a person, a class of persons or a defined purpose, and the founder may be a beneficiary.

A foundation acquires legal personality only once it is registered with the Registrar and holds a certificate of registration. That is a structural difference from a trust, which has no legal personality of its own. For the broader contrast, see trust vs foundation and the dedicated page on whether foundations escape forced heirship.

What the statutes do not say

It is important to read these provisions for what they actually state. They speak of non-citizens and of the rules of their domicile or nationality. They do not announce a general exemption from Mauritian forced heirship for everyone, and the facts above say nothing about how the rules apply to a Mauritian citizen's transfer. Anyone who is a Mauritian citizen, or who holds assets that sit squarely under Mauritian rules, should assume the position is different and obtain tailored advice before relying on any structure.

Comparing the main routes

The table below puts the common tools side by side on the single question of how they interact with reserved heirs. It is a simplified guide and does not replace advice.

For the first two columns in more depth, see trust or will for passing on assets and gift to children or trust.

A decision path for families

Each family's position differs, but the questions below follow the order an adviser would usually take. The result is a pointer, not an opinion.

Control, sham risk and why they matter

A trust that is only a label can be set aside. The more the settlor keeps control over what the trustee does, the greater the risk that a court or a reserved heir treats the arrangement as the settlor's own property. Several features count here:

• The settlor holds powers that effectively let them dictate every decision.
• The trustee has no real discretion and follows instructions without question.
• The settlor can take the property back at any time.
• The settlor is, in practice, the only person who benefits.

The Trusts Act 2001 lets the settlor take on roles such as trustee, protector or enforcer, but it also bars the settlor from being the sole beneficiary. That is a legislative signal that retained control has limits. How far a settlor can go before the trust is questioned is discussed in how much control can a settlor keep and sham trusts: when a court sets them aside.

The role of the protector

The Trusts Act 2001 allows a protector to be appointed to advise the trustee. Unless the deed says otherwise, the protector may remove and appoint trustees, change the governing law, move the place of administration and refuse consent to certain acts. The protector does not become a trustee by doing so. Where the settlor is also the protector, the powers add to the picture of control, which is why the choice matters. See powers of a trust protector and can the settlor be the protector.

Using the trust to look after heirs, not to exclude them

Many families approach the topic from the opposite direction. Their aim is not to remove a child from the picture but to arrange how a child receives what they are entitled to, because the child is young, vulnerable or unable to manage money.

The Trusts Act 2001 recognises protective, or spendthrift, trusts. A beneficiary's interest can be made subject to termination, restriction on transfer or suspension if the beneficiary becomes insolvent or their property is seized. This allows a family to give a share while keeping it away from the beneficiary's creditors. Specialised structures include:

• Trusts for minor children, where a trustee manages assets until the child is old enough.
• Spendthrift trusts for heirs who cannot manage money, which restrict how an interest can be sold or pledged.
• A trust for a child with disabilities, designed so that support continues over a long period.
• A trust for a blended family, which can balance the interests of a spouse and children from earlier relationships.

Used this way, a structure works alongside the reserved portion, not against it: the heir still receives their share, but on terms that protect it.

Practical points that apply to both trusts and foundations

Whatever the structure, certain obligations bear on succession because they decide what a reserved heir, a court or an authority can see.

Roles and records

A trust must have at least one qualified trustee, defined as an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or another person resident in Mauritius whom the FSC authorises. The trustee keeps accounts and an alphabetical register of the names and last known addresses of each beneficiary and settlor. A foundation has a council, which must include at least one member habitually resident in Mauritius, and a secretary who is an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or another authorised resident person. It keeps accounts, council minutes and a register of council members, founders and persons who endowed it.

Transparency and confidentiality

Ultimate beneficial owner information is collected for trusts and foundations. Under the FIAMLA 2002, the beneficial owner of a trust-type legal arrangement includes the settlor, the trustee, any protector, each beneficiary (or the class of beneficiaries) and any other individual exercising ultimate effective control. A foundation is treated as a legal person for the same purpose. The FSC also keeps a register of trusts with at least one qualified trustee. Details can be found in is there a register of trusts in Mauritius.

Confidentiality exists but is not absolute. The trustee must keep information about the trust confidential, and a court orders disclosure only on the request of an investigating authority that needs the information in good faith for an investigation or trial relating to financial crime. The question of what a family member can expect to see is a separate one; see are Mauritius trusts confidential.

Foreign trusts

A foreign trust is governed by its own terms and law, but it is not enforceable in Mauritius to the extent that doing so would amount to an offence, offend public policy or apply directly to immovable property in Mauritius. For a family with a trust created elsewhere, this is the point at which local succession rules may return. See how Mauritius recognises foreign trusts.

What a trust cannot do for forced heirship

Because the subject attracts exaggerated claims, it helps to list the limits plainly:

• A trust cannot make a reserved heir disappear. It changes who holds the assets, not the family relationships behind them.
• A trust created by a Mauritian citizen should not be assumed to enjoy the same protection as one created by a non-citizen.
• A trust does not remove the need for a will. Assets that stay outside the structure still pass under succession law.
• A structure that is controlled in every detail by the settlor may be challenged.
• Tax and succession are different questions. A structure can be sound on one and open to question on the other; for tax, see how trusts are taxed in Mauritius.

Where a purpose trust is considered, the Trusts Act 2001 also imposes specific conditions: the purpose must be certain, reasonable, achievable and lawful, there must be an enforcer and a successor enforcer, and at least one trustee must be a qualified trustee. A purpose trust created by a Mauritian citizen is void unless the FSC approves the enforcer and the named successor. Transfers of Mauritian immovable property to a non-charitable purpose trust are void. These rules are a reminder that the legislation restricts certain routes in the very area where reserved heirs are most exposed.

Steps to take before any decision

A short, orderly review often saves a family from an expensive mistake. The steps below are a general sequence.

To prepare for that conversation, this checklist is a useful starting point:

• Identify every person who could be a reserved heir
• Confirm the citizenship and domicile of the person making the transfer
• List assets by location, with Mauritian immovable property flagged
• Review the matrimonial regime of any marriage
• Decide whether the aim is to include, protect or exclude each heir
• Check that the will and the trust deed do not contradict each other

A letter of wishes can also guide the trustee on how to treat family members; see letter of wishes: guiding the trustee. If you would like to put your own situation to a licensed provider, you can use the form on the contact page.