Hold the hui

For your application to the Māori Land Court to create a trust, you need to provide minutes of the meeting(s) where you've discussed and got general agreement on resolutions for:

• creating a trust
• the terms of the trust order, including:
• the name of the trust
• any proposed trustees
• whenua being vested
• any limits on trustees and activities.

All resolutions must pass before an application can be made to the Māori Land Court to establish the trust.

Read the Māori Land Court information about creating a trust or incorporation

Getting a quorum

For your application to establish a Māori land trust, you need to ensure you have a quorum. A quorum is the minimum number of owners or trustees you need to have in attendance at a hui, so that you can make decisions and vote on matters to do with the whenua. 

Understanding quorums

Providing a record of the hui — the minutes

You'll need to provide the minutes of your meeting to the Māori Land Court with your application.

The minutes are a summary of everything that happens at the meeting, including what decisions were made and who moved them.  The Māori Land Court needs to see the minutes to understand the benefits and any risks of setting up a trust, to see the level of engagement of owners and to see how many have voted in support.

The minutes of your meeting should include:

• a register of attendees, including:
• list of the owners that attended, their contact details, and number of shares they hold
• a list of any other attendees and their contact details
• a list of any apologies, their contact details, number of shares they hold (if any)
• summary of the discussion to create the trust or incorporation, setting the terms of trust and potential trustees
• summary of any disagreement between the owners (if any)
• resolutions.

Meeting of Owners – Register of attendees template [DOCX 97KB]

Meeting of Owners – Minutes template [DOCX 105KB]

Information from the Māori Land Court about what minutes must include