Chua Tan Associate Lawyers
  • 联系我们
  • 法律领域
    • 澳洲移民
    • 家庭法
    • 商业法
    • 房产及建筑
    • 刑事法
    • 民事纠纷
    • 遗嘱和遗产
    • 调解服务
    • 国际公证
  • 关于我们
  • en_AUEnglish (Australia)
    • zh_CN简体中文
  • 澳洲法律解读
  • 预约在线法律咨询
  • 澳大利亚离婚申请 | 在线固定收费离婚申请
  • 遗嘱与遗产费用
  • 联系我们
  • 法律领域
    • 澳洲移民
    • 家庭法
    • 商业法
    • 房产及建筑
    • 刑事法
    • 民事纠纷
    • 遗嘱和遗产
    • 调解服务
    • 国际公证
  • 关于我们
  • en_AUEnglish (Australia)
    • zh_CN简体中文
  • 澳洲法律解读
  • 预约在线法律咨询
  • 澳大利亚离婚申请 | 在线固定收费离婚申请
  • 遗嘱与遗产费用
Facebook-f Linkedin

Estate planning in Australia

  • 12 月 8, 2024

Home » 澳洲法律解读 » 遗嘱 » Trusts » Estate planning in Australia

Key principles of estate planning in Australia

The main purpose of estate planning in Australia are to maximise lifetime wealth and income, i.e. the deceased estate. It is also to protect assets from creditors and relatives. This can often be through creating and maintaining trusts.

Creation of discretionary trusts

Discretionary trusts in Australia are created during someone’s lifetime. They usually involve 3-4 parties specifically where a “settlor” transfers the trust property to a “trustee (individual but usually company)” to then hold on trust for “beneficiaries.” The trust deed which governs the trust sets the rules of how the trust fund is administered. Following the creation of Trust, the property will be transferred or lent to the Trust. The trustee or trustee director will control the trusts’ activities and can be removed by the “appointer” where they appoint a new trustee. The settlor does not play a future role in the trust.

The trustee then becomes the legal owner of the trust property and liabilities. If the trustee is a company rather than an individual, its shareholders are not liable for the trust’s debts but the directors may be liable pursuant to the Corporations Act for breach of their director duties.  In a discretionary trust, the trustee decides the distribution amounts of income and capital to beneficiaries. 

Beneficiaries do not have a role or a proprietary interest in the trust fund. Beneficiaries may have a contingent interest in the trust fund where trustee distributes to other persons. 

Taxation benefits of Discretionary Trusts

There are multiple tax benefits of using discretionary trusts in Australia. There are taxation rules which apply to trust income, distributions and trust loans. 

  1. Distribute trust income to a range of beneficiaries- trust income can be distributed to particular family members or companies controlled by a family to minimise the tax rate payable on the trust income. In this respect, the Trustee can distribute among a range of beneficiaries and exploit low marginal rates.  
  2. Trustees can lend money to beneficiaries- care should be taken to distributions to shareholders who may be deemed to receive a dividend from the company to the borrower.
  3. Discretionary trusts which have other asset holding vehicles can result in capital gains on disposals of a trust asset be subject to only one layer of taxation. This is not the case for companies that sell assets where profit can be taxed in the shareholder when the exempt portion is distributed.  

In addition, trust assets are not included in the beneficiary’s assets and can be transferred to discretionary trust. For example, to qualify for the age pension while retaining control over assets, the person can transfer assets to a discretionary trust where that person’s children and/or grandchildren are beneficiaries where the trustee controls it. Care must be taken to avoid breaching anti-avoidance tax provisions. 

Testamentary Trusts

These are trusts which are created under a Will so that assets are not dissipated after their death. In this respect, ordinary marginal tax rates apply to distributions to children under 18 to avoid normal discretionary trust marginal rates or estate assets may be transferred to beneficiaries tax free. There are various tests such as surviving spouse and assets tests. Expert advice should be sought before proceeding. In this respect, trust assets do not pass under the Will and control of assets passes with control of trustee. Moreover, the beneficiaries do not have an interest in the trust fund and the assets are not directly available to the applicant under probate laws. It is therefore to seek expert legal advice from our estate planning lawyers as clauses should be inserted to suit your particular needs. For example, one important thing to include in the trust deed is for a change of appointor or ownership of trustee.

Superannuation funds

Superannuation funds are dealt with separately to a Will. The superannuation fund has assets which are subject to binding death benefit nominations where you nominate particular individuals or classes of persons who should receive the funds when you pass away. This nomination should be updated every 3 years. 

 

转发文章:

相关文章

How to deal with cases involving the online myVCAT and RDRV portal

How to deal with cases in

Completing mediation work for Asian and Chinese clients in Australia

Completing mediation work

墨尔本移民签证排期全解析：机制、现状与加快办理策略

在墨尔本申请澳大利亚移民签证时，移民签证排期是决定

墨尔本家庭暴力禁止令全解析：法律程序、权利保护与争议应对

在澳大利亚墨尔本，家庭暴力禁止令（Family V

« Previous 页次1 页次2 页次3 页次4 页次5 Next »

为什么选择蔡庆伟律师事务所?

自1990年以来，我们公司已经成功帮助无数客户解决了他们的法律问题。

您可以放心，我们的律师可以利用积累的知识和经验帮您实现最佳结果。

联系我们

经验

我们是澳大利亚历史最悠久的华人律所之一，是澳洲华人社区数一数二的律师事务所。

专业

我们的律师在各个法律领域都有丰富的经验。我们有数位律师协会认证的移民法律专家。

服务

我们的团队承诺为我们的顾客提供高效率、高水平、创新和严谨的法律服务。

联系我们

您是否有需要解决的法律问题或者其他问题需要寻求解决方案？联系我们为您提供最详尽的分析及解决方案。

蔡庆伟律师事务所

蔡庆伟律师事务所是澳大利亚历史最悠久的华人律师事务所之一，拥有超过三十年各个法律领域的经验。

了解更多

Chua Tan Lawyers Pty Ltd
ABN: 84 613 093 182

业务范围

  • 移民法
  • 家庭法
  • 商法
  • 遗嘱遗产
  • 房产建筑
  • 刑法
  • 民事纠纷
  • 国际公证

联系方式

  • +613 9602 3988
  • chuatan@tpg.com.au
  • 地址: level2, 262 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
  • 微信：chuatan262
联系我们

© Chua Tan Associates 蔡庆伟律师事务所 Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

zh_CN 简体中文
zh_CN 简体中文
en_AU English (Australia)