Becoming a landowner
Sharing your succession with whānau
When you succeed, you become a kaitiaki of both the whenua, and the knowledge you gained during the succession journey. It’s a taonga you can share with whānau to help them on their journey to land ownership when the time comes.
Talk about your succession
When you become a landowner through succession, you become a kaitiaki for the whenua — part of a long legacy of guardianship. You take on the responsibility of caring for the land and protecting it for our tamariki and mokopuna. Succession marks the beginning of your whenua journey, not the end.
It’s important to share the knowledge you gained throughout the succession process with whānau. Talk with them about your succession — what you did, how the process worked, and what happened during it.
Talk about the whenua
We take on the role as kaitiaki for our whenua to connect with both our past and our future. Talk to whānau about what came before, and share the hopes and aspirations you have for the future. Let them know:
- what’s happening with the whenua now
- your wishes for what will happen in the future
- how you hope to be involved in protecting and caring for the whenua over time.
Owner rights and responsibilities
Keeping records about succession
Once you and your whānau have succeeded to the whenua, think about how you can save a record of your succession for the future.
The Māori Land Court will always hold a record of your succession. But, you may want to keep a record of your own as well. When you get to the end of your succession journey, you’ll have:
- detailed information about your whakapapa, your whānau, and your whenua
- official records from the Māori Land Court about your succession, like the court minute and the court record.
If you decide to save these records, tell whānau where you keep them, and let them know what’s there. You could email them copies of the documents for their records too.
If you lose your documents
You don't need to have records of your succession for whānau to succeed in the future. But, if you lose or misplace any documents and want to replace them, you can request new copies from the Māori Land Court.
It might mean a bit of legwork though — you’ll need to work with the Māori Land Court to track down the documents you’re missing. You may also need to pay to get copies made.
Get contact details for the Maori Land Court
Downloads
After you succeed to your whenua — Digital version [PDF 916KB]
After you succeed to your whenua — Printer-friendly version [PDF 202KB]