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māorilandcourt.co.nz
A whānautrust combines some or all the Māori land interests of an owner or owners into a single
trust, to be held on behalf of their whānau.
That is because once the urupā is created, trustees will be appointed to administer the reservation and the underlying beneficial owners will no longer have legal responsibilities in relation to that land.
The changes affect all trusts,
including Māori land trustscreated through the Māori Land Court
(such as ahu whenua, kaitiaki, and whānautrusts) and existing
trusts established before the law came into force.
Trust records include those created under previous legislation, in particular those that
resulted from applications under section 438 and 439 of the Māori Affairs Act 1953, which
were the pre-cursors to the current Ahu Whenua Trust structure.