Trust Administration Act 11 of 2023
Namibia’s new trust law — what actually changed.
For almost ninety years, trusts in Namibia ran on a thin 1934 statute and a lot of custom. On 3 August 2023 that changed. The Trust Administration Act 11 of 2023 makes setting up and running a trust considerably more formal. Done well, it’s good news — trusts that are properly registered now sit on stronger legal footing. Done casually, it bites: a trustee acting without authority is personally exposed.
This page walks through every part of the Act in plain language: what the Letter of Authority is, who can be a trustee, what the beneficial-ownership register requires, and what you need to do if you already have a trust.
What changed on 3 August 2023
The Trust Moneys Protection Act of 1934 was, for most of its life, a single page of law trying to govern a complicated thing. It did very little of what a modern trust statute should: there was no formal registration step, no fit-and-proper test for trustees, no required record of beneficial ownership, and no clear framework for professional trust practitioners. The result was a system that worked when everyone involved behaved — and provided very little recourse when they didn’t.
The Trust Administration Act 11 of 2023 fixes that. It introduces four substantial new requirements that change how trusts are set up and run:
- A Letter of Authority from the Master of the High Court is now required before a trustee can lawfully act on behalf of a trust.
- A fit-and-proper test applies to anyone proposed as a trustee. Certain categories of person are disqualified outright.
- A beneficial-ownership register must be kept by every trust under section 22, recording the natural persons who ultimately benefit from the trust.
- Trust practitioners — people who act as trustees professionally — are now regulated as a separate category under section 27.
We’ll take each one in turn.
Who may act as trustee
Not everyone can be a trustee under the new Act. A fit-and-proper test applies to every person proposed for the role. The following categories are disqualified outright:
- People convicted of dishonesty offences — theft, fraud, forgery, perjury, or any offence involving dishonesty.
- People convicted of money-laundering or financial-crime offences— including offences under the Financial Intelligence Act 13 of 2012.
- Unrehabilitated insolvents — persons whose sequestration has not yet been rehabilitated by the court.
- Persons declared mentally incapable by a court of competent jurisdiction.
If a current trustee on an existing trust falls into any of these categories, they must be replaced. Continuing to act would put both them and the trust at risk.
The beneficial-ownership register (section 22)
Every trust must now keep a register of its beneficial owners. A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately benefits from or exercises effective control over the trust — not the trustee, not the corporate beneficiary, the actual human at the end of the chain.
The register typically records, for each beneficial owner:
- Full name, identity number, nationality, date of birth
- Residential and postal address
- The nature and extent of their beneficial interest
- The date the interest was acquired or changed
The register is part of Namibia’s broader anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing framework, aligning with the Financial Intelligence Act. Non-compliance is treated as an administrative offence and attracts sanction. The register is kept by the trustees but must be available to NAMRA, the Financial Intelligence Centre, and other competent authorities on request.
Trust practitioners (section 27)
For the first time, the Act recognises a distinct category of trust practitioner — a person who acts as a trustee in the course of business. In practice, this catches:
- Attorneys and law firms that hold themselves out as trust administrators
- Accountants and accounting firms doing the same
- Specialist trust companies
- Independent professionals who act as trustees for unrelated families or businesses for a fee
Section 27 imposes additional regulatory requirements on trust practitioners, including ongoing fit-and-proper status, conduct standards, and oversight by the Master. A family member or close friend who happens to be named as a trustee on your trust is not a trust practitioner. The distinction matters because getting it wrong — treating a professional trustee as a personal one, or vice versa — can create gaps in the trust’s legal cover.
If you already have a Namibian trust
The honest answer: you almost certainly have something to do. The Act applies to existing trusts, not just new ones. If your trust was set up before August 2023 and you have not revisited it since, the following are worth checking:
- Letter of Authority. Do the trustees hold a valid Letter? If not, every act they have taken since 3 August 2023 may be voidable. The fix is to apply through your legal practitioner.
- Trustee composition. Does every named trustee meet the fit-and-proper test? Has anything changed in their personal circumstances since they were appointed?
- Beneficial-ownership register. Has one been opened and maintained? Are the entries current?
- Trust deed authority. If the trust is intended to hold life policies — for example, in a buy-and-sell arrangement — does the deed specifically authorise this? Many off-the-shelf deeds do not.
- Insurance and beneficiary nominations. Are any life policies naming the trust as beneficiary still aligned with the deed and the new compliance framework? Are there retirement annuities incorrectly nominating the trust (which is void under section 37C principles)?
None of this is dramatic on its own. Together, they’re the difference between a trust that does its job and one that fails quietly until something goes wrong.
Where Parallax fits in
We don’t draft trust deeds and we don’t apply for Letters of Authority — that work belongs to your legal practitioner, registered under the Legal Practitioners Act. What we do is sit alongside that work and make sure the insurance fits:
- Auditing the policies the trust holds or is named on, including life cover and buy-and-sell structures
- Checking that beneficiary nominations are valid under the new framework — including the retirement-annuity trap
- Coordinating with your attorney and accountant so the structure they design and the insurance we place actually fit together
For the broader picture — how wills, trusts and insurance work together in Namibia — our Estate Planning in Namibia guide is the place to start.
Common questions
When did the Trust Administration Act come into force in Namibia?
The Trust Administration Act 11 of 2023 came into force on 3 August 2023. It replaced the Trust Moneys Protection Act of 1934 — a thin piece of legislation that had governed Namibian trusts for almost ninety years.
Does my existing trust need to do anything because of the new Act?
Yes. Trustees of existing trusts now need a Letter of Authority from the Master of the High Court before they can lawfully act, and the trust must keep a beneficial-ownership register. If your trust was set up under the 1934 Act and the trustees have just been operating informally, that needs to be regularised. Your legal practitioner is the right person to drive this.
Who is disqualified from being a trustee under the Act?
The Act applies a fit-and-proper test. People convicted of dishonesty, money-laundering or financial-crime offences are disqualified, as are unrehabilitated insolvents and those declared mentally incapable. If a current trustee on your trust falls into any of these categories, they must be replaced.
What is a Letter of Authority and how do I get one?
A Letter of Authority is the Master of the High Court's formal authorisation for a named person to act as a trustee. Without it, any act by a trustee is voidable and exposes the trustee to personal liability. Your legal practitioner applies for it on the trustees' behalf; it cannot be obtained directly by trustees themselves.
What is the beneficial-ownership register?
Section 22 of the Act requires every trust to keep a register of its beneficial owners — the natural persons who ultimately benefit from or control the trust. The register is part of Namibia's broader anti-money-laundering compliance framework. Non-compliance attracts administrative sanction.
Who counts as a "trust practitioner" under section 27?
A trust practitioner is someone who acts as a trustee in the course of business — typically attorneys, accountants, or specialist trust companies. They face additional regulatory requirements under section 27. If your trustee is a family member or close friend acting in a personal capacity, they are not a trust practitioner.
Want a second pair of eyes on an existing trust?
Book a no-obligation consultation. We’ll go through the insurance side of your trust structure and flag anything that looks misaligned with the new Act — for you to take to your attorney.
Prefer email? Reach us at cover@parallaxinsure.me.
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Not legal or tax advice. Application of the Trust Administration Act 11 of 2023 to a specific trust requires engagement with an admitted legal practitioner registered under the Legal Practitioners Act. Where tax positions are affected, a registered tax practitioner should be consulted.