Trust Fund in Mauritius: What It Is

What does "trust fund Mauritius" actually refer to?

Search for a trust fund in Mauritius and you will find the phrase used in several ways. Newspapers use it for a pot of money set aside for a child. Banks use it loosely for a managed portfolio. Lawyers rarely use it at all. Mauritian law does not define a "trust fund" as a separate legal object.

What the law does recognise is the trust, governed by the Trusts Act 2001. The "fund" is simply the property placed in that trust: cash, shares, a portfolio, a company holding, sometimes other assets. When a family speaks of a trust fund in Mauritius, they almost always mean this: a trust, together with the assets it holds, set up for the benefit of relatives.

This page separates that meaning from the other uses of the term, so that you know which one applies to your situation. If you are new to the underlying concept, start with what a trust is.

The family trust fund: how it is built

A family trust fund has the same moving parts as any Mauritian trust.

• The settlor transfers assets into the trust.
• The trustee becomes the legal holder of those assets and manages them under the terms of the trust deed.
• The beneficiaries are the people for whose benefit the assets are held.
• A protector, if the deed provides for one, advises the trustee and may hold certain powers.

The assets are not a legal entity. A trust has no separate legal personality: the trustee holds the property, but keeps it apart from its own. That separation is what makes the arrangement a trust fund in the family sense, rather than a bank account in someone's name.

Who may act as trustee

Under the Trusts Act 2001, a trust may have no more than four trustees, and at least one of them must be a "qualified trustee". Article 2 defines that as an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), or another Mauritius-resident person authorised by the FSC to provide trustee services. The Act adds that a trust does not become invalid or void merely because a trustee or a qualified trustee is missing.

The practical result is that most family trust funds in Mauritius are administered with a licensed professional involved. For what trustees owe the family, see the duties of a trustee.

Can the settlor be involved?

Yes, within limits. Article 8 of the Trusts Act 2001 allows a settlor to be also a trustee, a beneficiary, a protector or an enforcer. The settlor cannot, however, be the sole beneficiary of the trust they created. How much influence a settlor may keep without undermining the structure is a question of drafting and of the facts; how much control a settlor can keep looks at it in detail.

Trust fund versus other things called a "fund"

The word "fund" causes most of the confusion. The table sets out the common meanings side by side.

Two of these deserve a closer word.

Investment funds. A collective investment product is regulated as a financial product and is a different subject from a family trust. A trust may well invest in such products, but the trust is the holder, not the fund itself. This page does not cover investment funds.

Foundations. A foundation is a separate legal person, whereas a trust is a relationship. Families sometimes call either one a "family fund". The difference matters for control, for liability and for how heirs are treated; what a foundation is and the trust and foundation comparison explain the choice.

When a trust fund counts as an offshore structure

The expression "offshore trust fund" is also common. In Mauritius the word "offshore" is a description of who the parties are and where they live, not a separate type of trust. A trust whose settlor and beneficiaries live outside Mauritius is still a trust under the same Act. The page on what offshore means for a trust sets out how the label is used.

Is the trust fund revocable?

A frequent assumption is that a trust fund can be taken back at will, like money in a personal account. The Trusts Act 2001 starts from the opposite position. Under article 11, a trust is presumed to be irrevocable by the settlor and the settlor's legal representative, unless the deed expressly contains a power of revocation.

This is why drafting matters. A settlor who wants flexibility must have it written into the deed, and a settlor who gives up the assets in earnest must accept that they are no longer personally theirs. Revocable and irrevocable trusts compares the two approaches.

Can a trust fund protect a beneficiary from their own creditors?

It can be designed to. Article 18 of the Trusts Act 2001 recognises the protective or spendthrift trust: 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. This is a tool for families worried about an heir's finances, and it works through the deed.

It does not make assets immune from every claim. A structure that exists only on paper, or that is used to defeat existing creditors, may be attacked. See protective trusts for the design and sham trusts for the limits.

How long can a trust fund last?

Under article 9 of the Trusts Act 2001, a trust other than a purpose trust may last for a maximum of 99 years from its creation, unless it ends earlier. Article 9(2) allows a purpose trust, charitable or not, to have a perpetual duration. Article 10 permits income to be accumulated for the maximum life of the trust, but not beyond 25 years where the trust holds real property located in Mauritius.

For a family, the practical question is rarely the outer limit. It is more often when the trustee should distribute, which the deed and any letter of wishes settle. How long a Mauritius trust can last covers the point in more depth.

Records, registers and confidentiality

A trust fund held with a Mauritian trustee is not hidden from regulators, even though it is private from the public.

• Trustee records. Under article 38(3) of the Trusts Act 2001, the trustee must keep up-to-date accounts and documents, plus 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 completion of the operations concerned.
• Register kept by the FSC. Article 26A of the Financial Services Act 2007 requires the FSC to keep a register of domestic trusts and of foreign trusts that have at least one qualified trustee. It holds, among other things, the trust deed and its amendments and the identity and addresses of the beneficiaries, trustees, settlors, protectors and enforcers. The qualified trustee must supply the information in the form and within the time the FSC sets. See whether Mauritius has a register of trusts.
• Beneficial ownership. Under the FIAMLA 2002, the beneficial owner of a trust-type arrangement includes the settlor, the trustee, any protector, each beneficiary (or the class of beneficiaries and the objects of a power) and any other individual exercising ultimate effective control.
• Confidentiality. Under article 33 of the Trusts Act 2001, as rewritten in 2019, the trustee keeps information about the trust confidential. A court orders disclosure only at the request of an investigating authority, when the information is required in good faith for an investigation or proceedings relating to financial crime.

Privacy and transparency therefore coexist. The public cannot browse the deed, but the licensed trustee and the authorities hold the facts.

How is a trust fund taxed?

Tax is where a loose idea of "trust fund" does the most harm, because the treatment depends on the legal form and on the facts.

According to the Income Tax Act 1995, as consolidated up to the Finance Act 2026, a trust is chargeable on its taxable income at the Part IV rate of the First Schedule, which is 15%. Any distribution to a beneficiary is treated as a dividend in the beneficiary's hands under section 46(4).

Two older ideas no longer apply. The exemption that once existed for a non-resident trust, on filing a declaration within a set period, was repealed by the Finance Act 2021 with deemed effect from 1 July 2021. Section 46(2) still describes a trust with a non-resident settlor and non-resident beneficiaries, but that trust remains taxed at the same Part IV rate. A trust with an exclusively charitable object is a different case: charitable trusts appear among the exempt bodies in the Second Schedule.

Whether any of this applies to a specific family, and how distributions are treated in the beneficiary's country of residence, depends on individual circumstances and calls for an adviser's analysis. How trusts are taxed in Mauritius goes through the rules, and tax on distributions to beneficiaries covers the receiving side.

Is a trust fund the right tool? A quick orientation

This is a first orientation only. Succession rules, the family's residence and the nature of the assets can change the answer. If you want a qualified professional to look at your situation, you can use the form on the contact page.

Points to check before relying on a trust fund

• Confirm that you mean a trust, and not an investment fund or a foundation
• Identify the settlor, the beneficiaries and any protector
• Check who will act as qualified trustee and that they hold the right FSC licence
• Read the deed for revocation powers, distribution rules and duration
• Ask how the trust is treated under the heirship rules that apply to the family
• Ask how the beneficiaries' countries of residence tax distributions