This guide is for families from mainland China and Taiwan who have, or are about to have, legal affairs in Australia, and for the private bankers, accountants, lawyers and agents who advise them. It sets out the Australian rules that matter most and where they meet the rules in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong SAR.
Typically, one or both parents remain in Shanghai, Shenzhen or Taipei running a business. A child studies or works in Melbourne or Sydney and lives in an apartment bought with family money. There are bank and investment accounts in Hong Kong SAR, perhaps a holding company or a trust, and property in more than one city. The documents were put in place at different times, in different languages, by different advisers. Problems arise where the different systems meet: a notarial certificate that does not transfer Australian land, a person who is a tax resident of two countries at once, a Will in one place that revokes a Will in another, or a family loan that a court treats as a gift.
The guide covers eight areas, from moving to Australia to resolving disputes, with links to our detailed articles.
1. Moving to Australia and tax residence
Australia and mainland China each decide tax residence under their own laws. Under mainland China’s Individual Income Tax Law, a person who is domiciled there (a concept tied to household registration, family and economic ties) or who spends 183 days there in a tax year is a resident taxed on worldwide income. Australia applies its own residency tests. A person who moves the family to Melbourne but keeps a hukou and a business in mainland China can be resident in both. The Australia–China tax treaty contains a tie-breaker, but it allocates taxing rights; it does not make the other country’s filing obligations disappear. A person who cancels their hukou because they are settling abroad must first complete tax clearance with the local tax bureau.
Timing matters. When a person becomes an Australian tax resident, most of their overseas assets are generally treated for capital gains purposes as acquired at market value at that date, and worldwide income is taxed in Australia from then on, subject to the temporary resident rules. Distributions from foreign trusts, including accumulated income, can be taxed under special rules. Restructuring a trust or realising gains is usually far simpler before arrival. At the same time, the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) means that accounts held in Australia and Hong Kong SAR by mainland tax residents are reported to the State Taxation Administration, which since 2025 has been asking residents to review and declare overseas income. Accounts in mainland China held by Australian residents are reported to the ATO in the same way.
Families from Taiwan face a different question. Taiwan’s Estate and Gift Tax Act taxes the worldwide estate of a Taiwan national habitually resident in Taiwan, including an apartment or shares in Australia. Australia has no estate, inheritance or gift tax, but it taxes the capital gain when an inherited asset is later sold, and there is no Australian estate tax for Taiwan to credit. In every case, the right answer depends on the facts, and advice from tax advisers in both places is essential; we coordinate with them on the Australian legal structure.
2. Buying and holding Australian property, and moving money
A foreign person generally needs foreign investment (FIRB) approval before acquiring an interest in Australian residential land, and from 1 April 2025 a temporary ban has applied to foreign persons buying established dwellings, which has been extended to 30 June 2029, with limited exceptions. Most states also charge foreign purchasers surcharge duty and annual surcharge land tax, and a vacancy fee can apply to dwellings left empty. A trust whose beneficiaries could include a foreign person can be treated as foreign for state tax purposes, and since 2021 acquiring residential land under a Will has not been exempt from the foreign investment rules. When the property is sold, foreign residents are not entitled to the main residence exemption, and capital gains withholding applies on settlement unless the seller provides a clearance certificate.
Since 1 July 2026, Australian lawyers, conveyancers, real estate agents, accountants and trust and company service providers have been subject to anti-money laundering obligations when they help with property transactions, client money, or companies and trusts. Families should expect to prove identity and beneficial ownership, and to explain the source of funds and sometimes of their wealth overall. AUSTRAC’s guidance is that showing the money came from an account in the client’s own name is not enough. A well-organised file of business records, contracts, tax returns and bank transfers avoids delay.
Property bought with parents’ money but registered in a child’s name may belong to the child outright, or be held on trust for the parents, depending on what was intended and documented. That decides what happens if the child separates, becomes insolvent or dies. Likewise, money advanced to a child is a loan only if it is documented and treated as one.
3. Wills and estate planning across borders
A Will made in mainland China or Taiwan can be formally valid in Australia, because the Australian states accept a Will executed in accordance with the law of the place where it was signed or of the willmaker’s domicile, habitual residence or nationality. But to deal with Australian land, shares or bank accounts, the executor will usually need an Australian grant of probate, and proving a foreign Chinese-language Will is slower and less certain. Most families with significant Australian assets are better served by a separate Australian Will coordinated with the Will in mainland China, Taiwan or Hong Kong SAR. Each Will should state its scope, so that signing one does not accidentally revoke another.
An Australian Will can do much more than pass assets. A testamentary trust can protect an inheritance from a beneficiary’s divorce or creditors and allow income to be distributed to minor beneficiaries with tax treated at adult rates. Where a beneficiary is or may become a foreign person, carefully drafted foreign beneficiary exclusion clauses can avoid state surcharge duty and land tax applying to the whole trust. Jointly held property and superannuation pass outside the Will and must be reviewed with it.
Two cross-border points deserve emphasis. Taiwan’s Civil Code gives children and a spouse a reserved share (特留分) of the estate; Australian law has no forced heirship, but Australian family provision claims can be made instead, so the two Wills need to be designed together. And a mainland Chinese national who becomes an Australian citizen automatically loses Chinese nationality, which affects how property in mainland China is held and documented, although the right to inherit there is not lost. Since November 2023, documents signed in Australia for use in mainland China generally need notarisation and an apostille; Taiwan follows a separate authentication route.
4. When someone dies
When a family member dies in mainland China or Taiwan leaving assets in Australia, the Australian assets are dealt with through an Australian process. A Chinese inheritance notarial certificate (继承权公证书) or a foreign court document is not a grant of probate and generally cannot be used on its own to transfer Australian land or release a large bank balance. The executor, who may live overseas, applies to the Supreme Court of the relevant state, either personally or through an attorney in Australia, with documents signed, witnessed and translated in a form the court accepts. If there is no valid Will, the intestacy rules of that state decide who inherits. A surviving spouse or partner comes first in every state, but the share the partner receives where there are children differs significantly between states.
The executor’s work is staged: secure the assets, obtain the grant, pay debts and tax in the right order, wait out the family provision period (in Victoria, generally six months after the grant), and only then distribute. Australia has no inheritance tax, and the transfer of an asset to a beneficiary on death is generally not a taxable event for capital gains purposes. The tax comes later: duty in some circumstances, FIRB approval if a foreign beneficiary is to take Australian residential property, land tax while it is held, and capital gains tax when it is sold. The well-known “two-year rule” exempts the sale of an inherited home only if the conditions are met, and it is frequently misapplied where the deceased lived overseas.
The reverse situation is just as common: a family member in Australia inherits property or money in mainland China or Taiwan. The local procedure, often notarisation of inheritance rights, needs documents prepared in Australia, and the money must then be moved under foreign exchange rules and explained to Australian banks.
5. Family law across borders
An Australian court can make property orders where either party is an Australian citizen, ordinarily resident in Australia or present in Australia when proceedings start, and it looks at the property of both parties wherever it is: apartments in mainland China, shares in a Taiwan company, accounts in Hong Kong SAR. Where assets are hidden or held through relatives or companies, the court has tools to obtain documents, join third parties and, where there is a real risk of dissipation, freeze assets. A divorce granted in mainland China, whether by registration or by a people’s court, is generally recognised in Australia if the necessary connection existed, but recognition ends the marriage; it does not transfer Australian property. That still requires Australian consent orders, a financial agreement or proceedings.
For families who want to protect wealth before a marriage or de facto relationship, a binding financial agreement under the Family Law Act is the main tool. It is binding only if strict requirements are met, including independent legal advice to each party from an Australian legal practitioner. An agreement signed in mainland China or Taiwan will not usually satisfy them.
6. Children studying in Australia and elderly parents
A student visa holder under 18 must live under an approved welfare arrangement: with a parent or legal custodian, an approved relative, or under arrangements approved by the school. That arrangement is about welfare and accommodation. It does not give the homestay host, the school or an aunt the legal authority of a parent. Parents should put written medical authorities in place, appoint the same guardian in each country’s Will, and decide who will control money left for the child. Mainland China and Taiwan are not parties to the Hague Convention on child abduction, which is a further reason to plan ahead.
For elderly parents, loss of capacity is often more disruptive than death. A power of attorney made in mainland China or Taiwan does not automatically operate as a Victorian enduring power of attorney, and an Australian one may not be recognised overseas. Without an effective appointment, an application to VCAT may be needed before anyone can deal with the parent’s Australian assets. Enduring powers of attorney made in each relevant place while the parent has capacity avoid this.
7. Disputes, enforcement and mediation
A money judgment from a mainland Chinese court can generally be enforced in Australia by suing on it as a debt at common law, and Australian courts have done so in a series of reported cases since 2017. Taiwan’s courts are listed under the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth), so a Taiwan judgment can be registered. In the other direction, mainland and Taiwan courts recognise Australian judgments mainly on the basis of reciprocity, and arbitral awards are often more portable than judgments.
Within families, disputes usually concern a parent’s estate, a family company or money advanced between generations. Australian law provides remedies, including family provision claims, applications against executors, and the oppression remedy under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) for shareholders of an Australian company. But Court proceedings are generally public, and judgments are published under the parties’ names. For families who value privacy and relationships, confidential mediation is often the better first step. It can be conducted in Mandarin, with relatives joining online from mainland China or Taiwan, and can resolve assets in several countries in one agreement.
8. Case studies
Five composite situations show how these issues surface together and the order in which they can be worked through: a Shanghai entrepreneur’s Melbourne apartment, a Taipei founder’s Australian subsidiary after a stroke, a Hangzhou family’s money in a Melbourne home, a Guangzhou family with two tax systems, and a Kaohsiung widow’s Australian Will.
How we work with families and their advisers
Confidentiality. Our work is confidential and, where it applies, protected by legal professional privilege. Where a matter can be resolved by agreement or mediation rather than in open court, we look for that route first.
Language. We advise in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, and prepare Australian documents with Chinese translations so that family members and overseas advisers can follow them.
Coordination. We advise on Australian law and work alongside lawyers and tax advisers in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong SAR, and with accountants and valuers in Australia. For private bankers, see The Australian Component of a Client’s Affairs: A Note for Private Bankers.
Documents for use overseas. Our firm includes a notary public, who can notarise Wills, powers of attorney, affidavits and identity documents for use in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR and elsewhere, and arrange apostilles or authentication.
Immigration. Two of our lawyers are Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law, accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria, so visa questions can be considered alongside related property and estate issues.
Mediation. Justin Chua, lawyer and mediator, is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and conducts mediations in English and Mandarin, in person or online, for families and businesses with members in Australia, mainland China and Taiwan.
Chua Tan Associates acts for families and their professional advisers on Australian legal matters with a cross-border dimension, working alongside lawyers and tax advisers in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. To arrange a confidential consultation, please contact our Melbourne office on +61 3 9602 3988 or submit an enquiry. Advice is available in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Justin Chua (蔡智勋), lawyer and mediator, Chua Tan Associates, Melbourne. General information only, not legal or tax advice.
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