Getting Started: Legal Structures

Choosing the right sort of legal structure for what you're doing is an important part of setting up a community or voluntary organisation. This guide provides information to assist with the many steps along the way.

Note: The Community Resource Kit covers similar topics for new or small organisations. See especially 01 getting started, 02 planning and 03 organisational structures.

This guide contains information and links for people wanting to set up an incorporated society, charitable trust, Māori organisation or other legal entity. Choose the right structure for your community or voluntary organisation, whether it is a club, society, service organisation charity, trust or interest group. The guide includes: sample constitutions, links to relevant IRD and Companies Office documents, and checklists.

A good place to start is  Choosing a structure. You'll find more details about each legal structure in Publications / Resources.

Read some Case Studies or browse the Community Groups Links to see what similar organisations have chosen, then download a sample constitution from the Templates section. 

You'll also find more information in other Websites. 

Please help make this How-to Guide even more useful.  Email news, links or other information to: information@community.net.nz .

News   (Go to full list of 4 items)

• Charities Commission to be disestablished, functions transferred

  Cabinet has confirmed a plan to disestablish the Charities Commission and transfer its core functions to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA).
  Date added: 25 October 2011

• Law Commission Review of Incorporated Societies

  In late June, the Law Commissioner released an issues paper on its review of the Incorporated Societies.
  Date added: 8 July 2011

• Charities required to register for tax exemptions

  Charities Commission,
  Date added: 13 August 2007

Full List

Publications / Resources   (Go to full list of 14 items)

• Setting up an Incorporated Society

  An overview to help you set-up an incorporated society and register it with the Companies Office.
  Date updated: 27 February 2009

• Choosing a legal structure

  An overview of advantages and disadvantages of becoming a legal entity and a comparison of the distinctions between the most common structures.
  Date updated: 27 February 2009

• Who can help?

  The following list of organisations and sources are available to assist with queries.
  Date updated: 17 June 2008

Full List

Templates

• Charitable Trust documents

  A Sample Charitable Trust Deed and Guide to its Clauses (reviewed by Inland Revenue) and a sample Statutory Declaration are offered here for use in setting up a Charitable Trust.
  Date updated: 15 June 2011

• Incorporated Society Documents

  Downloadable sample constitutions and registration forms.
  Date updated: 8 October 2008

• View existing constitutions, deeds and rules

  The Societies Office holds information about trusts and societies. This includes Constitutions and Trust Deeds, and it can be very helpful to read the deeds of existing organisations with a similar purpose to yours.
  Date updated: 19 November 2005

Case Studies

• Māori organisational governance studies

  These two joint Te Puni Kōkiri / Federation of Māori Authorities studies each contain 10 case studies from a range of for-profit and not-for-profit Māori organisations.
  Date updated: 15 May 2009

• Wellington Somali Community Association

  The Wellington Somali Community Association shares some of the background to their work, and the challenges they faced getting incorporated.
  Date updated: 1 November 2006

Websites   (Go to full list of 6 items)

• Societies and Trusts online

  Register for charitable trusts, incorporated societies, companies and other legal entities that are incorporated. Here you'll find an Online search for organisations, forms for registering new organisations, and filed constitutions, annual accounts ...
  Date added: 10 November 2002

• Inland Revenue Department (IRD) - non-profit information

  Tax information for incorporated societies, clubs, associations, charitable trusts.
  Date added: 10 November 2002

• Legal Information Service (Inc.)

  A not-for-profit organisation established to make accessible in plain language people's rights and entitlements under New Zealand Law. LIS researches, collates and publishes vital welfare and social ...
  Date added: 14 July 2011

Full List