Trusts have long played an important role in South African estate planning, wealth preservation and intergenerational wealth strategies. But the regulatory environment surrounding them is changing.

The draft Regulation of Trusts Bill, 2026 signals a significant shift in how trusts could be governed in South Africa, with a much stronger emphasis on transparency, ongoing compliance and, importantly, the accountability of individual trustees.

While the Bill is not yet law and its requirements may still change before enactment, its direction is clear. Trustees should expect trust administration to become more structured, more closely monitored and less passive.

A move towards continuous compliance

Traditionally, much of the administration surrounding a trust could be relatively event-driven. Compliance requirements often came to the fore when assets were transferred, trustees changed or amendments were made.

The proposed framework represents a move away from this approach.

If enacted in its current form, trusts would be expected to operate within an environment of continuous compliance, with regular reporting, accurate record-keeping and ongoing regulatory oversight.

Importantly, this would not necessarily only affect trusts with significant activity. The proposals also contemplate greater compliance requirements for dormant or minimally active trusts.

What could change for trusts?

Among the key requirements proposed in the draft Bill are:

• Mandatory annual financial statements for all trusts, including dormant trusts.
• Annual returns and prescribed fees payable to the Master of the High Court.
• Ongoing Beneficial Ownership (UBO) reporting, with certain changes required to be reported within prescribed timeframes.
• Increased record-keeping and governance requirements.
• Expanded powers for the Master to investigate and enforce compliance.
• Greater oversight of trustee conduct and fiduciary responsibilities.
• Potential administrative penalties and personal liability where trustees fail to meet their statutory obligations.

These changes point towards a trust environment where good governance is not something addressed once a year or when circumstances change. It becomes an ongoing responsibility.

Greater responsibility for individual trustees

Perhaps the most important development is what the proposed framework could mean for the people appointed as trustees.

Trusteeship has sometimes been viewed as a relatively passive family appointment. The direction of the proposed legislation suggests that this approach will become increasingly difficult to maintain.

Trustees may be expected to demonstrate that they are actively fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities, maintaining appropriate records, keeping beneficial ownership information up to date and ensuring that the trust’s affairs are properly administered.

Failure to do so could potentially expose individual trustees to administrative penalties and personal liability.

In other words, accepting an appointment as a trustee carries real responsibilities, and those responsibilities are likely to receive considerably greater regulatory scrutiny in future.

What should trustees be doing now?

Although the Bill has not yet been enacted, trustees do not necessarily need to wait for the final legislation before reviewing their affairs.

Good trust governance should already include accurate and current records, properly documented trustee decisions, up-to-date beneficial ownership information and a clear understanding among trustees of their responsibilities.

At Activ8 Fiduciary, many of these principles are already incorporated into our trust administration services, including Beneficial Ownership monitoring and verification, ongoing compliance reviews, trustee resolutions, governance documentation, trust record maintenance and annual compliance support.

Our objective is simple – we aim to ensure that the trusts we administer remain well positioned as the regulatory environment evolves.

Trusteeship is changing

The draft Regulation of Trusts Bill, 2026 should serve as an important reminder that a trust cannot simply be established and left to run in the background.

The direction of regulation is towards greater transparency, stronger governance and increased individual accountability.

For trustees, now is an appropriate time to understand how your trust is being administered, whether its records and reporting are current, and whether everyone appointed as a trustee understands the responsibilities that come with the role.