What a Trust Deed Contains

A trust deed in Mauritius is the written instrument that creates the trust and fixes its rules. Once it is signed and the assets are transferred, the deed, read with the Trusts Act 2001, is what the trustee, the beneficiaries and, if a dispute arises, a court will look at. Families often receive a long draft and sign it without understanding which clauses carry the weight.

This page does not list the paperwork needed to set a trust up. It reads a deed in the order it is usually drafted and explains what each clause does, which statutory rule sits behind it and what a family should question. The wording of every deed differs, and the right answer on any clause depends on your situation, so treat this as a reading aid rather than advice.

What the deed is for

The deed does three things. It records who the parties are, it describes the property and the purpose of the trust, and it allocates powers between the people involved. If you are new to the concept, start with what a trust is; the deed is simply the document in which those ideas become specific.

The Trusts Act 2001 came into force on 1 December 2001. Many of its rules are default rules: they apply unless the deed says otherwise. That is why the deed matters. A clause you do not read may switch a protection off, and a clause that is missing may leave a gap that the statute fills in a way you did not expect. For a wider view of the legal framework, see Mauritius trust law and the Trusts Act explained.

The clauses, one by one

1. Name, parties and governing law

The opening clauses give the trust its name, identify the settlor and the first trustee, and say which law governs the trust. Check that names and capacities are accurate and that the governing law clause is deliberate rather than copied from a template. The choice is discussed in choosing the governing law of a trust.

A foreign trust is governed by its own terms and its own law, but it is not enforceable in Mauritius to the extent that it would amount to an offence, be contrary to public policy or apply directly to immovable property situated in Mauritius (article 60 of the Trusts Act 2001).

2. Trust property and additions

This clause lists the initial assets and allows later additions. Look at how the schedule is described. A vague description of what was transferred can cause difficulty later when a bank, a registry or a beneficiary asks what the trust actually owns.

3. Trustees and the qualified trustee

The deed names the trustees and says how they are appointed, removed and replaced. Under article 28 of the Trusts Act 2001, a trust may have no more than 4 trustees, and at least one must be a qualified trustee at all times. The trust does not become invalid or lapse merely because a trustee or a qualified trustee is missing, but the gap should be filled promptly.

A qualified trustee is, under article 2, an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or another person resident in Mauritius authorised by the FSC to provide trustee services. Check that the deed names the correct kind of trustee and that the replacement mechanism is workable. The day-to-day obligations of the office are covered in duties of a trustee toward the family.

4. The settlor and any reserved powers

Under article 8, the settlor may also be a trustee, a beneficiary, a protector or an enforcer, but cannot be the sole beneficiary of the trust they created. Reserved powers are where families most often over-reach. A deed that leaves the settlor in practical control of everything invites the argument that the trust is a sham. Read how much control a settlor can keep and the role of the settlor before accepting a long list of reserved powers.

5. Beneficiaries and distributions

This is the core of the deed. It says who benefits (named persons, a class such as "my descendants", or both), when and how, and whether the trustee has discretion. A discretionary clause lets the trustee decide; a fixed clause sets entitlements in the deed. The differences are set out in discretionary versus fixed trusts.

Questions to ask: Is the class of beneficiaries defined clearly enough to be applied in thirty years? Can new beneficiaries be added or excluded, and by whom? What happens to a beneficiary who dies, divorces or becomes insolvent?

6. Protective and spendthrift provisions

Article 18 recognises protective or spendthrift trusts: a beneficiary's interest can be made subject to termination, restraint on alienation or suspension if the beneficiary becomes insolvent or their property is seized. If you want such a clause, it must be written into the deed. Its practical reach is discussed under creditors and trusts.

7. Revocability

Article 11 presumes that a trust is irrevocable by the settlor and the settlor's legal representative unless the deed expressly provides for revocation. Many families assume the opposite. Check the clause carefully: an express power of revocation changes how the trust behaves in practice, and an irrevocable trust cannot simply be undone because circumstances change. See revocable versus irrevocable trusts.

8. Protector and enforcer

Article 24 allows the deed to provide for a protector, who may be an adult (including the settlor) or a legal person, and whose role is to advise the trustee. Unless the deed says otherwise, the protector can remove and appoint trustees, fix the governing law, change the place of administration and withhold consent to certain acts, without becoming a trustee. Because these are strong powers, the deed should say exactly what the protector may and may not do. More detail is in the trust protector.

For a purpose trust, the deed must instead provide for an enforcer and a successor enforcer. Under article 21, the same person cannot be both trustee and enforcer of one trust, and the enforcer is entitled to the annual accounts, a copy of the deed and the legal advice received by the trustees.

9. Duration and accumulation

Under article 9, a trust other than a purpose trust may last up to 99 years from its creation, unless it ends earlier. A purpose trust, charitable or not, may be perpetual under article 9(2). Under article 10, income may be accumulated for the whole maximum life of the trust, but not beyond 25 years where the trust holds immovable property situated in Mauritius. The deed should state the duration and the accumulation rule rather than rely on silence. See how long a Mauritius trust can last.

10. Powers, variation and ending the trust

Look for the trustee's investment powers, the power to delegate, the power to vary the terms and the events that end the trust. Variation is a sensitive area; changing the terms of an existing trust explains the routes available. The closing clause should say what happens to remaining assets, which matters particularly in a purpose trust, where article 19 requires the deed to provide for surplus assets at the end.

11. Letter of wishes and exclusion of liability

Most deeds refer to a non-binding letter of wishes. This is a useful way to guide the trustee without hard-wiring every preference into the deed; read letter of wishes: guiding the trustee. Also read any clause that limits the trustee's liability, since it affects the remedies open to beneficiaries.

Summary table: clause, rule and question

Clauses specific to purpose trusts

A purpose trust is valid without a beneficiary if its purpose is certain, reasonable, possible and lawful, if the deed provides for an enforcer and a successor enforcer, if at least one trustee is a qualified trustee and if the fate of surplus assets is set out (article 19). If the enforcer dies, refuses or cannot act, the qualified trustee must notify the Attorney-General in writing, who appoints the successor named in the deed or, failing that, a suitable person within 90 days.

Two further limits are worth knowing. The transfer of immovable property in Mauritius to a non-charitable purpose trust is void (article 19(3)). A purpose trust created by a Mauritian citizen is void unless the FSC approves the appointment of the enforcer and the named successor; the FSC schedule in force from 1 July 2026 lists no processing fee for those approvals. A charitable trust, under article 20, is one whose exclusive object is relief of poverty, education, religion, protection of the environment, human rights and fundamental freedoms, or another purpose beneficial to the public.

Tax and compliance clauses

A deed does not decide the tax treatment, but it affects it. Under the Income Tax Act, a trust is taxable on its taxable income at the Part IV rate of 15%, and any distribution to a beneficiary is deemed to be a dividend for the beneficiary. The exemption for a non-resident trust on filing a declaration of non-residence was repealed with effect from 1 July 2021 and no longer appears in the consolidated Act. Whether any given structure is attractive therefore depends on facts that need an adviser's analysis; see how trusts are taxed in Mauritius.

The trustee also has record-keeping duties that the deed should not contradict. Article 38(3) requires up-to-date accounts and records and an alphabetical register of the names and last known addresses of each beneficiary and settlor; accounting records are kept for at least 5 years after the operations concerned are completed. Article 33 keeps trust information confidential, and a court orders disclosure only on the request of an investigating authority where the information is required in good faith for an investigation or proceedings relating to financial crime. For the broader picture, see whether Mauritius trusts are confidential.

What the regulator sees

A qualified trustee must supply the FSC with the information and documents it needs to keep its register of trusts, in the time and form the FSC sets (article 26A(3) of the Financial Services Act 2007). The register covers, among other things, the trust's name and characteristics, the deed and its amendments, and the identity and addresses of beneficiaries, trustees, settlors, protectors and enforcers. In practice the deed and every later amendment will therefore be on file with the regulator through the trustee. Is there a register of trusts in Mauritius? explains who can see what.

Under the FIAMLA 2002, the beneficial owners of a trust-type arrangement include the settlor, the trustee, any protector, each beneficiary (or the class of beneficiaries and objects of a power) and any other natural person exercising ultimate effective control. When the trustee of an express trust enters a business relationship or an occasional transaction of at least Rs 500 000 or the foreign currency equivalent, it must disclose its status as trustee to the reporting person, such as a bank. A deed whose roles are muddled makes this exercise harder.

A short checklist before signing

• The settlor, trustees and any protector or enforcer are correctly named
• At least one qualified trustee is appointed, with a replacement route
• Revocability is stated expressly, not left to assumption
• Beneficiary classes are clear and the trustee's discretion is defined
• The protector's powers are listed, not left to the statutory default
• Duration, accumulation and the end-of-trust clause are stated
• The governing law and place of administration are deliberate choices
• A letter of wishes is prepared, separately from the deed

You can also use the annual family trust review checklist later, to test the deed against how the trust really operates.