People don’t like to think of this, but when preparing your will you would need to consider that your children or child could die before you. If...
When a small change is needed to a will the testator should ideally go back to the lawyer that drafted the will and get them to change it. Then...
It is rare, but I have seen at least one discretionary trust set up that did not have an appointor position. No one had the power to remove the...
Discretionary trusts are usually set up with someone occupying a position known as the ‘appointor’. The appointor generally has the power to...
Many people want to set up trusts in such a way that certain people cannot benefit. Usually these are ex-spouses. That is easy enough to do you...
Legal Tip 351: Defacto Relationships, Death and Intestacy It is very straight forward to work out if a person is married or not because...
Being appointed an attorney of an individual does not give you the right to act as a director in place of that person for a company. Either the...
Step-children are classed as ‘children’ for the definition of ‘dependant’ under Superannuation law. See the definition of ‘dependant’ and ‘child’...
Generally, when a member of an SMSF dies the assets of the SMSF will not pass via their will. This is because the SMSF is a trust and they don’t...
Death can make trustee resolutions impossible, and this can result in the trust income being taxed at the top marginal tax rates. Example...
There is an aspect to asset protection on death to consider when the family situation is complex. This is especially so when the only asset is the...
Testamentary Discretionary Trusts, TDTs, are the ultimate structure. People are dying to get them they are so good. Testamentary trusts are...
The beneficial owner doesn’t necessarily need to be the legal owner. The property could be owned by Person A, but the beneficial owner be Person...
Trusts are private affairs, the trust assets don’t pass via the will, and even the control of the trust doesn’t pass by will (except as a backup...
There may be limited opportunities to save stamp duty in NSW where the gifts under a will are ‘adjusted’. Example Homer has 3 properties worth...
When a person dies their assets pass on, this includes assets that they beneficially own but don’t legally own. An example of this would be the...
Testamentary trust are trusts set up in the will of a deceased person. They don’t actually begin until after the death, and actually after the...
Not many people think about how CGT can change the outcome of their inheritance plans. Example Homer is a sole parent dad with 2 properties,...
Dying doesn’t get you out of a contract. If a person dies they are still legally bound to pay their debts. The debts will be payable out of the...
Some people have no family, no relatives at all. No parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren or aunties or uncles etc. If such a person were...
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