All incorporated societies in New Zealand need to reregister under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 by April 2026 or they will cease to exist and have their assets distributed.
What does this mean in practice? The consequences are significant for your existence, assets and name.
- The incorporated society will cease to exist. This means the incorporated society would be removed from the register and its assets distributed. There are only limited reasons that this could be undone, so it’s important for incorporated societies to meet the reregistration deadline.
- The incorporated society will no longer have the right to make decisions on its own behalf, including what happens to any assets. The Registrar could put the society into liquidation and have its assets distributed in accordance with its constitution.
- The name of the incorporated society will no longer be protected, so another group may take that name, impacting on the brand and marketing.
Before they can reregister, all incorporated societies must update their constitutions to meet the requirements under the new Act.
We are New Zealand’s legal experts on incorporated societies. We are helping incorporated societies of all types and complexities to update their constitutions – we would be delighted to assist your society as well.
Find out more on our comprehensive Incorporated Societies Information Hub or get in touch for a free 20 minute conversation.
