Trusts and Fiduciary Services Editing and Proofreading Services

A trust deed is written once and obeyed for decades, often by trustees who never met the settlor and beneficiaries who were not born when it was signed. Every ambiguity in it becomes a question someone must answer without being able to ask what was meant — and trustees who guess wrong are personally accountable for the answer.

We edit trust deeds and settlements, trustee resolutions and minutes, deeds of appointment, retirement and variation, letters of wishes, beneficiary reports and statements of account, investment policy statements, distribution and discretionary decision memoranda, and family governance and succession documents. Our editors check that beneficiary classes are defined so it is always possible to say who is in and who is out, that powers granted to trustees are stated with their limits and conditions, and that the deed's defined terms hold consistently through every schedule and later amending instrument.

Beneficiary communications need a different register entirely. A statement of account or an explanation of a discretionary decision goes to people who are not financial professionals, and clarity there prevents a very high proportion of the disputes that trustees end up defending.

Everything is handled with strict confidentiality. We do not advise on trustee duties — we make sure the instrument and the reporting say precisely what was intended, for readers who will arrive long after the drafting is forgotten.