The Māori Land Court (Te Kooti Whenua Māori) keeps the ownership records for Māori land and makes the orders that change them. Inheriting shares in Māori land doesn't happen automatically. Someone has to apply. The Court also sets up trusts and appoints, replaces and removes trustees. Most applications cost $70 or less and can be made online in Pātaka Whenua.
If someone in your whānau (family) has died owning Māori land, or your trust needs new trustees, the Māori Land Court is where it gets sorted. The word "court" puts a lot of people off. Most of what the Court does is paperwork and record-keeping, and simple applications can be decided without a hearing. This guide explains what the Court does, how the common applications work, what they cost and where an accountant can help.
What Is the Māori Land Court?
The Māori Land Court is a specialist court set up under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 (the Māori Land Act). It:
- keeps the official record of who owns Māori land, and in what shares
- decides who inherits Māori land interests (succession)
- sets up trusts and incorporations to manage land, and appoints their trustees
- oversees how Māori land trusts are run
- confirms some land dealings, such as transfers of shares
- offers free mediation for disputes about whenua (land)
It isn't a criminal court. For most people, dealing with it means filling in a form, providing documents and waiting for an order.
How Do I Contact the Māori Land Court?
The Court has nine offices, open 10am to 4pm on weekdays. You can call, email or visit. There's no single national number, so contact the office for the district your land is in.
Contact details from the Court's offices page, checked 13 November 2026. Street addresses are on the Māori Land Court website. The Court also runs free information sessions for trustees and landowners: ask your district office when the next one is on.
How to Use Pātaka Whenua
Pātaka Whenua is the Court's online portal. Use it to find out what land your whānau owns, check who the trustees are, and apply to the Court without visiting an office.
Search as a guest
- By block name: where the land is, current applications and its history
- By owner: who owns shares, when, and who they inherited from
- By trust: the trustees and when they were appointed
- Documents: Court minutes, judgments, survey plans and title orders
- Make an enquiry, or apply and pay the fee
Register if you're applying
- Save an application and come back to it
- Track its progress
- Get notifications from the Court
- Download ownership reports, such as a list of current owners
How to Register
- On the Māori Land Court website, choose Pātaka Whenua – our online portal.
- Choose Register and fill in your details.
- Enter the code shown on screen, then the verification code the portal emails you.
- Set a username and two security questions, then accept the terms.
- Log in with your new username and password. Keep your username and security answers somewhere safe.
Tips
- Use a computer or tablet if you can. Uploading documents from a phone can be fiddly. If it doesn't work, email them to your district office with your application number.
- Search by block name first. If you only know a person's name, an owner search can find the blocks they hold shares in.
- Gather what you know before you start: block names, trust or incorporation names, old dividend statements, and the whakapapa (genealogy) of the person who owned the shares.
- Some records aren't online. Wills, personal files, adoption files and suppressed records aren't searchable. Ask your district office about these.
If land your whānau has interests in is managed by Te Tumu Paeroa (the Māori Trustee), you can also contact them about that land and any income held for owners.
How Does Succession to Māori Land Work?
Succession is the legal transfer of a person's Māori land interests to their successors after they die.
The Court only updates its records when someone applies. Until then, the shares stay in the name of the person who has died, and income from them can't be paid out. You don't need probate to apply.
Who Can Succeed?
Māori land generally passes to the person's children in equal shares, or to other whānau if there are no children. The rules keep Māori land with people who have a whakapapa connection to it.
- Spouses and partners can't inherit the ownership. They may be entitled to income from the shares, or to live in the family home, for a period.
- Whāngai (children raised under customary adoption) can succeed where the tikanga (customs) of the relevant iwi or hapū (tribe or sub-tribe) recognises them.
- A will can leave Māori land interests, but only to people the Act allows. If you're making or reading a will that includes Māori land, get legal advice.
What You'll Need
- Proof of death, such as a death certificate
- The will, or a certified copy, if there is one
- Whakapapa of the person who died: parents, siblings, children and partners, with contact details
- Written confirmation from a spouse or partner giving up their lifetime rights, if that applies
- Consents for whāngai succession, if that applies
Which Form?
A succession application costs $70, and further interests found later cost $24.
Do We Need to Go to Court?
Not always. Since 2021, an application that is simple and uncontested (for example, the children of the person who died taking equal shares, with no objection after it's been publicly notified) can be decided by a Registrar without a hearing. You can still ask for a judge. If the application isn't simple, the Court will contact you about a hearing.
Consider a Whānau Trust at the Same Time
A whānau trust holds the shares together for the whole whānau instead of splitting them further between each successor. It costs nothing extra if you apply for it with the succession ($70 on its own). It stops the shares fragmenting with each generation, but it's another trust to run, with its own records, bank account and possibly tax returns. Weigh up both sides before you decide.
How Do You Set Up a Trust Over Māori Land?
Owners can ask the Court to put their land, or their shares, into a trust. Owners usually meet first to agree the proposal and nominate trustees. The Court then makes an order setting out the trust's terms.
Appointing, Replacing or Removing Trustees
- Owners nominate, the Court appoints. The Court looks at each nominee's ability, experience and knowledge. Some people can't be trustees, including anyone under 18, bankrupt or convicted of dishonesty.
- Trustees stay in office until the Court replaces them. If a trustee resigns, moves away or dies, the trust needs an application to fill the gap.
- Removal is possible but serious. The Court can remove a trustee who has lost the capacity to act, keeps failing to act, or whose conduct makes them unsuitable.
- Cost: $70 to add, reduce, replace or remove trustees.
Trustees of Māori land trusts must also meet the Trusts Act 2019, alongside Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. That includes keeping core trust records and giving beneficiaries basic information about the trust.
Can the Court Review Our Trust?
Yes. Trustees or owners can apply for a review of how a trust is running, including its finances, records and terms. The Court suggests reviewing a trust every three years. Owners can also apply to change a trust's terms or, in some cases, end it.
A review goes more smoothly when the trust's financial statements, minutes and owner records are up to date. If your accounts are a few years behind, get them current first.
How Do You Apply?
- Find the right form.New forms came in with rule changes on 30 April 2026 and must be used for all new applications. Check the Court's application forms page rather than using an old form.
- Gather the documentslisted on the form.
- Apply online in Pātaka Whenua,or lodge it at a Māori Land Court office.
- Pay the fee.If you're on a Work and Income benefit or NZ Super, you can ask for the fee to be waived or reduced, at no cost.
- Notification.Most applications are published in the Court's monthly pānui (notice), so other owners can have their say.
- Decision.A Registrar decides simple, uncontested matters. Others go to a hearing.
How long will it take? It varies. Simple, uncontested applications with complete documents move fastest. Applications missing documents, or that someone objects to, can take much longer.
What Does It Cost?
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| Succession to Māori land | $70 |
| Further interests found after succession | $24 |
| Whānau trust, filed with a succession application | No fee |
| Setting up a trust | $70 |
| Adding, replacing or removing trustees | $70 |
| Transfer of shares | $70 |
| Partition, amalgamation, or anything to do with a Māori incorporation | $233 |
| Dispute resolution (mediation) | No fee |
From the Court's application fees page, checked 13 November 2026.
What's Changing?
Free mediation
The Court's dispute resolution service offers free, tikanga-based mediation for whenua disputes between whānau, owners and trustees. It expanded in July 2026.
New court rules
Amended rules brought in new application forms and mediation pathways.
Changes to Te Ture Whenua Māori Act
In September 2026 the Government agreed to amend the Act, including a new governance option for owners, clearer rules on who owns homes on Māori land, and letting adopted people inherit from their birth parents. A Bill is being drafted. We'll update this guide when it's passed.
Where Does an Accountant Fit In?
The Court deals with ownership and governance. A lot of what goes wrong, though, shows up in the money first.
Unclaimed income. Until succession is done, distributions can't be paid out to the people entitled to them.
Tax withheld. If a Māori authority pays an owner more than $200 without their IRD number, it must deduct withholding tax at 39%, less any credits attached. See our guide to Māori authority tax.
The owners' register. An out-of-date register makes it hard to call meetings, reach quorum and pay distributions.
Accounts for reviews and owner hui (meetings). Trustees need clear, current financial statements to report to owners and support a review.
Tax status. Whether the trust should be a Māori authority, a registered charity or neither is a tax decision with long-term effects.
We're accountants, not lawyers. For a contested succession, a will that includes Māori land, or removing a trustee, talk to a lawyer or the Court.
Before You Apply: A Checklist
- Find the block, trust or incorporation in Pātaka Whenua.
- Gather the whakapapa and documents the form asks for.
- Talk as a whānau about who will apply, and whether a whānau trust makes sense.
- Download the current form from the Court's website.
- Once your succession is done, give your IRD number to every trust or incorporation that pays you.
Common Questions
Do Māori land shares pass automatically when someone dies?
No. Someone has to apply to the Māori Land Court for a succession order.
How do I contact the Māori Land Court?
Call or email the office for the district your land is in. The nine offices are open 10am to 4pm on weekdays, and their numbers are listed above.
Can I apply online?
Yes, through Pātaka Whenua, the Court's online portal. You don't need an account to search or apply, but registering lets you save and track applications. You can also apply at a Māori Land Court office.
Do we need a lawyer to apply?
Not usually for a simple, uncontested succession. If the application is disputed, involves a will, or is complicated, legal advice is worth it.
How much does it cost to apply to the Māori Land Court?
A succession application is $70, and setting up a trust or changing trustees is also $70. A whānau trust filed with a succession is free, and so is dispute resolution.
Can my partner inherit my Māori land shares?
Not the ownership. A surviving spouse or partner may be entitled to income from the shares, or to live in the family home, for a time.
Our trustees have all passed away or moved on. What do we do?
The trust needs an application to appoint new trustees. Owners usually meet first to nominate people. Get the trust's records and accounts in order at the same time.
Have a Kōrero With Us
Māori land trusts, incorporations and marae are at the heart of our practice. We prepare trust accounts for owner hui and Court reviews, tidy up owner and distribution records, and advise on Māori authority and charity tax.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Kōrero means conversation. For decisions about your whenua, talk to the Māori Land Court, a lawyer or us before you act.
Sources
- Māori Land Court: Succession; Application fees; Our offices; Pātaka Whenua guidance; Māori Land Court Amendment Rules 2026; Set up a trust or incorporation; Trustees and committee members; Review or change a trust; Māori Land Trusts factsheet (October 2021); Dispute Resolution Service
- Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, and the Te Ture Whenua Māori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Act 2020
- Te Puni Kōkiri: New laws supporting succession to whenua Māori
- Inland Revenue: IR1202 Māori authority tax rules (January 2025)