Your family trust's paperwork, finally in order.
The Trusts Act 2019 requires every trustee to keep 10 kinds of records. Deedcase keeps them in one place, turns your decisions into signed resolutions, and writes your annual minutes, in minutes rather than hours.
Launching summer 2026–27. Full refund any time before launch, and automatically if we haven't launched by 30 June 2027.
A trust is only as strong as its paper trail.
Nobody inspects your records until the day someone tests your trust. By then, missing minutes are expensive to fix.
Relationship breakups
When a relationship ends, the court looks at how the trust was actually set up and run. The Supreme Court has treated one spouse's powers over a trust as relationship property; in a later case it didn't, because the deed's limits were real and followed.
Clayton v Clayton [2016] NZSC 29 · Cooper v Pinney [2024] NZSC 181
Rest-home subsidy
Work and Income asks about trusts and past gifting when a parent applies for the Residential Care Subsidy, and counts gifts above the allowed amount back as assets.
Work and Income: Residential Care Subsidy · MSD staff manual: gifting
Beneficiary challenges
Beneficiaries can ask the court to review a trustee's decision. In one Supreme Court case, a trustee that took sides was left to pay its own legal costs instead of charging them to the trust.
Trusts Act 2019, s 126 · Lambie Trustee Ltd v Addleman [2023] NZSC 7
Banks and lenders
Before opening a trust account, banks ask for the signed trust deed plus any variation, retirement and appointment deeds, and everything waits until you find them.
Everything the Act asks of you, in one app.
See exactly what your trust is missing.
Deedcase has a place for each record section 45 of the Trusts Act says you must keep. Photograph or upload what you have, and your record score shows what's still missing.
- Deed, variations and trustee appointments
- Asset register, contracts and financial statements
- Notes on where the signed originals are held
- ✓Trust deed & termss 45(a)
- ✓Variationss 45(b)
- ✓Trust property recordss 45(c)
- !Trustee decisionss 45(d)
- ✓Written contractss 45(e)
- ✓Accounting recordss 45(f)
- !Trustee appointmentss 45(g)
- !Memorandum of wishess 45(h)
Say what you decided. Get a resolution to sign.
Tap record and describe the decision in your own words. Deedcase turns your voice into text, and AI drafts it as a formal trustee resolution. You check the wording, then each trustee signs on their own phone.
- Property sales, loans, distributions and trustee changes
- Signed resolutions are filed automatically, with dates and signatures
- A record of who signed what, and when
Tom ✓
Mere ✓awaitingGrahamFifteen minutes a year, and your minutes are written.
Once a year, Deedcase walks you through reviewing assets, beneficiaries, what information beneficiaries receive, and distributions. Then it produces your annual minutes, ready for all trustees to sign.
- Reminders before it's due
- Invite your accountant to see your records
- Export everything as PDFs whenever you like
Three steps to a well-kept trust.
Add your trust
Enter the basics and invite your co-trustees. Each trustee gets their own login.
Fill the gaps
Upload what you have. Your record score shows what's missing and who to ask for it.
Keep it current
Record decisions as they happen and complete your annual review when reminded.
Founding members pay $99 a year, for life.
We're taking 50 founding members before launch. Your price is locked for as long as you stay.
Founding member
- One family trust, all trustees included
- Records for every section 45 category
- Unlimited resolutions and e-signing
- Annual review and minutes
- Help shape the app before launch
One payment now covers your first year from launch. Full refund any time before launch.
What trust administration usually costs
- Law firm annual administration$800–1,000
- Full-service administration$1,500–2,500
- Reconstructing missing records during a disputeMuch more
- Deedcase founding member$99
Accountant or trust adviser? We're offering partner pricing for firms with 10 or more client trusts. See partner details.
Frequently asked
Is Deedcase legal advice?
No. Deedcase is a record-keeping tool. Our templates will be reviewed by a New Zealand trust lawyer before launch, but the decisions are yours. For complex situations, talk to your lawyer.
When does it launch?
We're aiming for summer 2026–27, ahead of the March year-end when accountants ask for trust records. Founding members get early access and help shape the app.
What if I change my mind, or you don't launch?
Email us any time before launch and we'll refund your payment in full, no questions asked. If Deedcase hasn't launched by 30 June 2027, we'll refund every founding member automatically. See our terms.
I have more than one trust. Do I pay for each one?
Not if you have two or three. The founding family plan covers up to 3 trusts for $149 a year (standard price at launch: $299). All your trusts sit under one login, with a home screen showing how each one's records are going. Each trust keeps its own trustees, so a co-trustee only sees the trusts they're part of. Have more than 3 trusts? Email us.
Does Deedcase use AI?
Yes, for two things: turning your voice note into text, and drafting that text into the right format. Nothing is filed until every trustee has read and signed it. Your notes aren't used to train AI models, and your stored documents are never sent to the AI. Changes to the trust deed itself, or adding or removing a trustee, still go through your lawyer. Deedcase records the decision and keeps the signed deed. See our privacy policy.
Where will my data be stored?
With a major cloud provider, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, in their Australian or New Zealand data centres. Records will be encrypted while being sent and while stored, and handled under the Privacy Act 2020. In the app, only the trustees you invite, and any adviser you choose to add, can see your trust's records. Our own access will be limited to running and supporting the service, and recorded. See our privacy policy.
Are electronic signatures valid?
For trustee resolutions and minutes, yes. The Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 allows electronic signatures when all signers agree to them. Deeds usually still need to be signed on paper in front of a witness. Deedcase guides you through that and stores the signed copy.
Can my accountant or lawyer use it too?
Yes. Invite them to view your records and export whatever they need at year-end, instead of chasing you for it.
Can I get my records out?
Always. Your records belong to your trust. You can export everything as PDFs at any time.
Get your trust in order before it's tested.
Join the first 50 New Zealand trustees on Deedcase, at $99 a year for life.
Become a founding member