• We at Combined Business Services work closely with and under the supervision of experienced experts to assist clients and trustees to bring all their admin up to date and to ensure that the trust and trustees are compliant to all the statutory requirements. As a matter of fact, we love doing this administration and risk compliance of all your trust-related obligations which may not be so enjoyable to you. We are eager and willing to take over these responsibilities on your behalf to make your life easier so that you can focus on other more productive and/or enjoyable things. This will also enable the trustees to take all this information and administration that we do, to the accountant or auditor of the trust, and they will be able to compile and draft the financial statements and tax forms of and for the trust, as the trust will then be fully compliant and risk free from a statutory perspective. 

• What does it mean that the trust must be statutory compliant? First of all, the trust needs to register with SARS for income tax and there are now since 2023 new legal requirements involving the capturing of “Beneficial Owner” details on the Master’s Portal. These requirements stem from recent amendments to the Trust Property Control Act No 57 of 1988 and the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act, 2022 and which is now law that all trusts and trustees have to comply with. It now places a statutory obligation on each and every trustee of a trust to ensure that the required details and documentation are filed annually with the Master of the High Court.

• To comply with the law and maintain an electronic register of all trusts as prescribed by the amended legislation, it is now mandatory by all trustees of the trust to upload this information on the Master’s Portal on their website. Failure to do so may result in significant fines (the amended legislation imposes a fine of R10 000 000 (TEN MILLION RAND) or imprisonment of 12 (TWELVE) months on all trustees in terms of the amended legislation. 

• What does the administration of the trust entail? As trusts are a separate legal entity, it cannot do anything in law and has to be represented by all of its trustees. The trustees must meet regularly and for each decision that is taken. The trustees need to draft and keep the necessary paperwork in the form of a resolution and if there are not regular meetings, then the trustees should then at least once a year constitute an annual trustees meeting. We will assist you with these resolutions and annual meetings. We will also obtain and safely store all your documents of and for the trust for you, which you can then easily access as when you need it. 

• If you do not currently have an accountant or auditor for your trust, or if you’re unsatisfied with your current one, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to assist you with drafting and compiling annual financial statements and completing and submitting tax forms to SARS. We’d be happy to provide you with our fee structure for these services.  

• It is also necessary from time to time to assess the contents of the Deed of the Trust to ensure that it is legally up to date, or it may be necessary to amend the Deed of Trust for various reasons. Should you need any assistance with regards to that, we can refer you to our legal expert to assist you with that.