“Final Beneficiaries” means

In the matter of the Helsef Family Trust ) (the Trust) the trustees sought the assistance of the High Court to rectify the terms of the Trust to complete the definition of final beneficiaries, which had been left incomplete in error. As noted at [9] and [10]:

[9] Where there has been a mistake in the drafting of a trust deed with the result the instrument does not implement the settlors’ intention rectification is available to correct the position.

[10] The Court’s power of rectification is preserved in relation to trust settlements by s 133(4) of the Act which provides:

The terms of the Trust did not clearly express the settlors’ intention. This was supported by evidence from the legal executive who took and recorded the settlors’ instructions. The Court noting at [11](g) that:

Ms McDonnell-Golds is in no doubt that Mr and Mrs Bartlett intended the final beneficiaries would be their three children, a matter supported by her reporting letter to Mr and Mrs Bartlett dated 4 December 2007 in which she confirmed they were both “together with [their] children and any grandchildren” included as “beneficiaries”, discretionary beneficiaries under the Deed including the settlors, the final beneficiaries and their children.

Rectification was ordered to reflect the settlors’ trust intentions, which were set out in the evidence before the Court.

References:

• Re Helsef Family Trust [2025] NZHC 4085
• Trusts Act 2019, s 133(4)
• Re Butlin’s Settlement Trust [1976] Ch 251; Sanders v Commissioner of Inland Revenue (1982)  5 NZTC 61, 380