Kenya’s Trust Administration Act, 2026 Officially Takes Effect

The Kenyan Parliament enacted the Trust Administration Act, 2026 (the “Act”), which was signed into law on 8 September 2026 and took effect on 25 September 2026. The Act repeals the Trustee Act (Chapter 167, Laws of Kenya) and the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act (Chapter 164, Laws of Kenya) (the “Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act”), replacing them with a single framework for the registration, incorporation, administration and oversight of trusts. The Act empowers the Attorney-General to make regulations (the “Regulations”), which are yet to be published. This fundamentally reshapes Kenya’s trust regime, moving it from a fragmented system toward a more compact one built around registration, beneficial ownership transparency, active trustee duties and enforceable compliance obligations.

For a summary on the Bill, click here to read our previous article.

Below, we highlight the Act’s key features:

• Consolidation and modernisation: The Act repeals the earlier trust-related statutes and brings the registration, incorporation, governance, and dissolution of trusts under one comprehensive regime.
• Application scope: The Act applies not only to trusts registered or incorporated under the Act, but also to trusts created by court order or under any other written law.
• Minimum number of trustees: The Act requires charitable and non-charitable purpose trusts to appoint at least three natural persons as trustees, or one corporate trustee. A family trust, by contrast, needs only one trustee. Where the trustees are natural persons, at least one must be a Kenyan citizen or resident, as the Regulations will prescribe.
• Registration and incorporation: Trustees must register every written trust, or have it incorporated with the Registrar of Trusts (the “Registrar”), an office established under the Act within the Business Registration Service. Registration assigns the trust a unique identification number but does not confer legal personality; incorporation is a separate step. A written trust that remains unregistered and unincorporated is unenforceable, although an interested party may petition the court for recognition or enforcement.
• Oversight by the Registrar: The Registrar now maintains a central Register of Trusts (the “Register”), containing all filings made under the Act and certificates of registration and incorporation. The Registrar may issue directives, disqualify trustees for up to three (3) years, and require the production of information. It may share Register information with competent authorities, regulatory bodies and reporting institutions as specified in the Act.
• Transparency and beneficial ownership: Each trust must prepare and maintain a register of beneficial owners and lodge a copy with the Registrar. Trustees must notify the Registrar of any change within twenty-one (21) days and retain beneficial ownership records for at least seven (7) years after an individual ceases to be a beneficial owner. These requirements give regulators a clearer basis for scrutinising trusts for anti-money laundering compliance.
• Duties and powers of trustees: Trustees must exercise care, skill, and diligence, act within their powers and preserve trust assets. A trustee may not derive any profit from the trusteeship unless expressly authorised by the trust deed, approved by a court or permitted by the Act.
• Corporate trustees and trust agents: A corporate trustee is any entity registered in Kenya and licensed under the Act to act as a trustee. Corporate trustees must have a local contact person who is a natural person and resident in Kenya. The Act also establishes the role of a trust agent, a professional appointed by the trustee to assist with trust formation and set-up, provide a registered office address for a family trust, or lodge statutory documents. A trust agent must be an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a certified secretary (under the Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya Act, Chapter 534, Laws of Kenya) or a certified accountant (under the Accountants Act, Chapter 531, Laws of Kenya).
• Trust administration: Trustees must keep adequate, accurate and up-to-date records for at least seven (7) years and file annual returns with the Registrar within thirty (30) days after each anniversary of registration or incorporation.
• Dispute resolution: Parties to a trust dispute must use the mechanism stipulated in the trust deed. If the trust deed contains no such mechanism, the High Court of Kenya has jurisdiction.
• Penalties and enforcement: Non-compliance attracts fines ranging from KES 3,000 for late annual returns to KES 5 million for a natural person (or KES 20 million for a body corporate) for improperly disposing of trust assets. Where no specific sanction applies, the Act sets a maximum fine of KES 1 million.
• Transitional arrangements: Trusts already incorporated under the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, together with trusts registered under the Registration of Documents Act (Chapter 285, Laws of Kenya), are deemed to be trusts under the Act and transition automatically into the new regime. Existing trusts must achieve full compliance within twenty-four (24) months from the Act’s commencement or within any other period the Registrar may specify. All pre-existing rights, powers, liabilities, and duties vest in and remain enforceable under the new legislation.

Conclusion

The Act represents a landmark step in rebuilding public confidence in Kenya’s trust sector. Compliance should be treated as an ongoing operational responsibility rather than a one-off filing exercise. The Regulations, once published, will provide important detail on forms, fees, electronic lodgement, and licensing.