How Equity Steward Works — Trust Administration in 6 Stages

Equity Steward guides UK trustees through a structured six-stage process that produces a complete, evidential record of the trust's establishment, funding, governance, and ongoing administration.

Stage 1: Orientation and Understanding

Understand the nature, purpose, and legal framework of your trust. Record the settlor's intent, objectives, and the context in which the trust was established. Every answer becomes part of the permanent record.

Stage 2: Trust Architecture

Define the trust's structure — parties, roles, powers, and provisions. Lock the architecture with a formal record before documentation begins. Changing the structure later requires a documented amendment with a full audit trail.

Stage 3: Documentation

Upload, verify, and record all trust instruments and supporting documents. Every document is cryptographically hashed and timestamped, creating tamper-evident proof of the document's state at a given date.

Stage 4: Funding and Assets

Record all assets settled into the trust. Document valuations, transfer dates, and the evidential chain of funding decisions. Demonstrates that funding was completed properly and contemporaneously recorded.

Stage 5: Governance

Manage trustee meetings, formal resolutions, communications, and retention policies. Every governance event is logged with a contemporaneous audit trail that demonstrates active, responsible trusteeship.

Stage 6: Resilience and Defence

Build your trust's defensive evidential layer — a structured record that demonstrates the trust was properly administered, governed, and maintained over time. Generate a Defence Pack for legal or regulatory proceedings.