Protecting non-resident wealth from forced heirship in Mauritius.

A Mauritius trust can help non-residents protect wealth from forced heirship rules that apply in their home country. Many civil law jurisdictions reserve a fixed share of an estate for a spouse, children or other relatives, which can override a settlor’s own wishes for how assets are distributed. The Trusts Act 2001 provides statutory protection for qualifying non-resident settlors against certain foreign inheritance and succession rules.

This guide explains how that protection works, what a trust needs to satisfy to benefit from it, how the trust instrument and property transfer need to be structured, and the compliance and tax treatment that follows once the trust is set up.

The legal foundation for Mauritius trusts

Mauritius built its reputation as a wealth structuring jurisdiction on the Trusts Act 2001, which sets out how a trust is created, recognised and enforced under Mauritian law. A trust exists once a trustee holds property, not in a personal capacity, but under an obligation to deal with it for an identified beneficiary or a stated purpose. This separation between personal and fiduciary ownership underpins everything that follows.

Section 4 confirms that a trust created in line with the Act is valid and enforceable, and Section 5 extends this to trusts created voluntarily, resulting by operation of law or established by judicial decision.

Settlor, trustee and beneficiary requirements

The Act sets requirements for settlors, trustees and beneficiaries, from capacity through to how flexibly beneficiaries can be defined.

Settlor capacity and protection from forced heirship claims

A settlor is defined under Section 2 as the person providing trust property or making a testamentary disposition to the trust. A non-citizen settlor has the capacity to transfer assets where, at the time of transfer, they are of full age and sound mind under any one of the following:

• the laws of Mauritius
• the laws of their own domicile or nationality
• the proper law governing the transfer

This capacity rule matters because of what follows it. Section 8(4) provides that a transfer of property to a Mauritian trust cannot be set aside, avoided or declared invalid by a rule of the settlor’s domicile or nationality relating to inheritance, succession or restrictions on disposing of property during their lifetime. This is the main reason families based in fixed-inheritance jurisdictions look to Mauritius for succession planning.

Trustee composition and the qualified trustee requirement

A trust can have no more than four trustees, and at least one needs to be a qualified trustee, meaning a management company licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) or a Mauritius resident authorised by the FSC to provide trusteeship services. Where a trust temporarily has no qualified trustee, the Act does not treat it as invalid, but it limits the remaining trustees to acts that preserve the trust property until a qualified trustee is appointed.

Beneficiary flexibility

Beneficiaries need to be identifiable by name or by reference to a class, and the Act allows for relationships that do not yet exist when the trust is created, which supports multi-generational planning. A class such as grandchildren can be used, and for the purpose of closing that class, a woman over 55 is treated as no longer able to have children.

Trusts can also be written as spendthrift or protective trusts, letting a beneficiary’s interest reduce or end if they become insolvent or their assets face creditor claims.

The trust instrument and transferring property

Mauritius applies strict formalities to trust creation. A trust that does not meet these requirements can be treated as unconstituted, which removes the protections described above.

The trust instrument

A trust has no effect unless created by a written instrument, and that instrument is void unless it states:

• the trustee’s name
• the settlor’s intention to create the trust, or the trustee’s declaration
• the objects and beneficiaries, or the class of beneficiaries
• the property held on trust
• the duration, capped at 99 years for a non-purpose trust

Transferring property into the trust

Transferring property into the trust follows the formalities for that asset type. Where the property is in Mauritius, the deed of transfer needs to expressly name the transferee in their capacity as trustee, and a leasehold interest cannot be transferred on trust if less than 18 years remain on the term.

Restrictions on Mauritian immovable property

A separate restriction applies to Mauritian immovable property held for a non-citizen beneficiary. Under Section 22 of the Trusts Act, the transfer is void unless the Prime Minister approves it under the Non-Citizens (Property Restriction) Act. This restriction applies specifically to local land holdings and sits apart from the broader asset protections available to trust property held outside Mauritius.

Protecting against foreign court intervention

The protection available at the point of transfer is reinforced by a separate shield that applies if a foreign court later tries to intervene. Where Mauritian law is the proper law of the trust, Section 11(5) stops a Mauritius court varying the trust, setting it aside or recognising a foreign judgment against the trust property in relation to the personal and proprietary consequences of marriage dissolution, succession rights including fixed inheritance shares, or the claims of creditors in an insolvency. Combined with Section 8(4), this makes it difficult for an heir or creditor relying on foreign forced heirship rules to reach assets validly settled on a Mauritius trust.

The protection is not unconditional. It does not apply where:

• a court establishes that the settlor made the transfer with intent to defraud creditors who existed at the time of the transfer, though no such action can be brought against the trustee more than two years after the transfer took place
• the trust purports to do something that would be an offence under Mauritian law, which makes a foreign trust unenforceable in Mauritius on that point

Confidentiality and disclosure obligations

Mauritius balances client confidentiality with the transparency expected of a modern financial centre.

Trustee disclosure obligations

Trustees provide accurate information on trust administration to the Court, settlors, protectors and enforcers. Beneficiaries only gain access where the terms of the trust authorise it.

The qualified trustee also keeps a non-public register covering:

• the original and updated trust deeds
• the names and addresses of settlors, protectors, enforcers and beneficial owners
• details of service providers such as lawyers, bankers and investment managers

Any change to this information needs to reach the FSC within five working days.

Anti-money laundering reporting and investigatory access

Under anti-money laundering (AML) rules, a trustee provides a reporting person with beneficial ownership information when establishing a business relationship. Beyond this, confidential trust information is only released where the Court or a Judge in Chambers is satisfied it is needed for an inquiry into, or a trial regarding, a financial crime, following an application from an investigatory authority such as the Financial Intelligence Unit.

Tax residency, substance and rates

Mauritius moved to a substance-based tax model for trusts following reforms introduced in 2021, aligning the jurisdiction with international compliance standards.

Determining tax residency

A trust is resident for tax purposes where its administration takes place in Mauritius and the majority of trustees are resident, or where the settlor was resident in Mauritius at the time the trust was created. The Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) looks at where central management and control sits, based on four factors:

• where the majority of trustee meetings take place
• where strategic management decisions are made
• the residency of individual trustees
• where the trust’s books and records are kept

Tax rates by residency status

The rate that applies depends on whether the trust is treated as resident or non-resident:

Qualifying for the 80% partial exemption

To access the 80% partial exemption on specified income types, a trust needs to meet the MRA’s substance requirements. This means employing an adequate number of qualified staff, whether directly or indirectly, in Mauritius, and incurring a minimum level of expenditure in the jurisdiction. All trusts, regardless of residency status, file an annual tax return with the MRA.

Conclusion

A Mauritius trust gives non-resident settlors a structure that is difficult to unwind through foreign forced heirship claims, provided the settlor met the Act’s capacity requirements and the trust itself was properly constituted. That protection rests on Section 8(4) at the point the assets are transferred and on Section 11(5) if a foreign court later tries to intervene, and both depend on the trustee, beneficiary and documentation requirements being met from the outset.

Before proceeding, it is worth reviewing whether the intended settlor qualifies as a non-citizen with capacity under the Act, whether Mauritian immovable property is involved, and how the tax treatment applies to the expected income streams.

How Acclime can help with structuring a Mauritius trust

Acclime provides trust formation and administration support in Mauritius, helping settlors structure trusts that meet the Trusts Act 2001’s capacity, trustee and documentation requirements. From initial structuring advice through to qualified trustee services and ongoing compliance filings, our team can help build a trust that holds up to scrutiny in the jurisdictions that matter to your family.

By working with Acclime, you can structure a Mauritius trust that gives your family a legally certain shield against forced heirship claims while meeting local compliance obligations. Contact us to discuss your succession planning needs.