When it comes to protecting your family, your assets, and your legacy, the best time to plan is before you need to. At Ingham Mora, we regularly help clients across Tauranga take a proactive approach to estate and trust planning. Whether you’re managing a family trust, thinking about succession planning, or simply unsure how your wishes will be carried out after you’re gone, three essential tools can help: your memorandum of wishes, estate plan, and trustee succession strategy.
Together, they form a foundation for peace of mind—both for you and for those you care about most.
What is a Memorandum of Wishes?
A memorandum of wishes is a practical, personal document that works together with your family trust. It’s not legally binding, but it gives your trustees clear guidance on how you’d like them to manage the trust and support your beneficiaries—particularly once you’re no longer able to communicate your intentions directly.
A memorandum might outline:
- Who you’d like to benefit from the trust (and when)
- Your priorities for distributing income or capital
- Guidance on funding education or supporting family members in specific circumstances
- Long-term intentions for assets like a family home, business, or farm
As it reflects your values and goals, it should be regularly reviewed as your life evolves. At Ingham Mora, we work closely with our clients to draft a memorandum that provides meaningful guidance for trustees—ensuring your voice continues to be heard in future decisions. As accountants, we also understand how your financial goals intersect with your trust structure and can tailor the memorandum accordingly.
Estate Planning and your Trust
Many clients think of estate planning as just writing a will. It’s actually a comprehensive strategy that ensures your affairs are in order and your assets are distributed as intended.
Trusts often play a key role in this planning. They offer flexibility, continuity, and asset protection—especially when structured and administered correctly. That’s where your professional advisors come in. Ingham Mora’s chartered accountants regularly advise on:
- How to structure your trust in line with your long-term financial goals
- Tax implications and reporting requirements
- Asset protection strategies
- Coordinating your will, trust, and memorandum of wishes
A strong estate plan also considers enduring powers of attorney and specific instructions around business or property interests. We can help you navigate all of this, while also ensuring that everything is tax-efficient and legally sound.
If you’re a business owner, investor, or trustee, estate planning isn’t just about peace of mind—it’s also about minimising risk. At Ingham Mora, we understand how to make your financial structures work for the future.
Trustee Succession: Planning for continuity
Trusts are designed to last for generations. But what happens when a trustee passes away, moves overseas, or becomes incapable of carrying out their duties?
That’s why trustee succession planning is vital.
Without a clear plan, your trust could face delays, disputes, or legal risks. By reviewing who’s involved in managing the trust, you reduce uncertainty and keep things running smoothly. This is especially important if your current trustees include aging parents, family friends, or professionals nearing retirement.
At Ingham Mora, we help families:
- Review the current trust deed and trustee appointments
- Identify suitable future trustees
- Assist with the legal and administrative aspects of appointing or retiring trustees
- Step in as an independent professional trustee, if needed
We’re often appointed as an independent trustee because of our financial expertise, impartiality, and long-term stability. Having a professional trustee like Ingham Mora ensures decisions are made in line with the trust deed and current tax law and not influenced by the dynamics of personal relationships or inexperience.
How Ingham Mora brings it all together
While a memorandum of wishes, estate planning, and trustee succession can each be tackled individually, they’re most effective when considered as part of a complete plan. As Tauranga-based chartered accountants and trust advisors, we bring both technical expertise and a personal approach.
Our services go beyond crunching numbers. We can help you:
- Draft or review trust documentation with an eye on long-term compliance and effectiveness
- Structure your affairs for asset protection and tax efficiency
- Support trustees with financial reporting, tax returns, and administrative duties
- Provide independent trustee services that offer continuity across generations
Importantly, we make sure all the pieces of your plan work together.
Let’s talk about the future
You’ve worked hard to build what you have—let’s work together to protect it. Whether you’re creating your first memorandum of wishes, updating your estate plan, or rethinking who should act as trustee, Ingham Mora is here to help.
Book a consultation with our trust and estate advisory team today. We’ll help you move toward securing your legacy.