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What must be included in your application?

To register as a charitable trust you will need:

an application for registration
a statutory declaration
your trust deed.

Which application form should you use?

The form you must complete depends on whether you are applying for incorporation of trustees or of a society. Either:

All applications, no matter which form is used, must contain

original applicant signatures, and
the registered office address.

Form 1 - Incorporation of trustees as a board

Trustees must be authorised to incorporate as a board by the society to which they belong (but if there is no such society, this must be stated in the application).

The application for incorporation must be signed by the majority of the trustees. There must be at least two trustees.

An application cannot be made by trustees if they are already incorporated under another Act or if the society to which the trustees belong is itself incorporated under another Act.

Form 2 - Incorporation of a society as a board

An application for incorporation can only be made by a society if the application is authorised by the majority of that society's members.

The application must be signed by at least five members of the society or by a majority of the trustees of that society.

An application is deemed to be authorised by a society if:

it is authorised by a majority of the members of that society at a meeting,
reasonable notice was given to members of that society of the intention to hold that meeting and its purpose,
the application is authorised by the rules of that society.

An application cannot be made by a society if it is already incorporated under another Act or if the trustees of the society are already incorporated under another Act.

Each applicant must provide his or her full name, physical address and signature on the application form.

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Registered office

A charitable trust must have a registered office. This address should be an actual physical location and include the street number in a town or city. For example '6 High Street, Wellington'.

If the address is a named building, this name should be provided. If the building has more than one floor, or is made up of a suite of offices, then the floor or suite number should also be shown.

You cannot use a post office box, private bag or DX address as the registered office.

Trust deed

The trust deed should be drafted specifically to meet the purposes of your particular trust. You may need to seek the help of a solicitor who is familiar with the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 when drafting your trust deed.

Statutory declaration

The application and deed of trust must be accompanied by a statutory declaration from one of the trustee applicants.

The declaration must be made under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 and must either describe any additional trusts on which applicants hold property or state that there are no other trusts.

This declaration must be dated on either the same day as the application or a date following this.

If a society is applying for incorporation, two additional documents are required:

A copy of its rules or other constitutional documents certified by one of the applicants or trustees as a true copy of its current rules, or if there are no rules, a statutory declaration by one of the applicants describing the purpose of the society, how it operates, and how persons become members or cease to be members.

A statutory declaration by one of the applicants that the society has authorised the application and the way in which this authorisation was obtained.