Testamentary discretionary trusts can still be an effective estate planning tool for global families when carefully structured, with consideration given to residency of beneficiaries, control and tax treatment across jurisdictions.

The court has powers under legislation and under its inherent supervisory jurisdiction to vary trusts to ensure that they may be duly executed in certain circumstances.

This article questions the constitutional validity of family trust distribution tax, arguing that it functions more as a penalty than a tax.

Before concluding that you have a family trust distribution tax liability, have you considered whether the trustee of the family trust has complied with the trust deed?

The application of vacant residential land tax to holiday homes has caused much anxiety recently, particularly where that holiday home is held in a trust.

NALI/NALE has been a hot topic in recent years. Now the dust has settled, this two part article will examine the rules interactions with trusts.

The use of a rarely used “anti-avoidance” provision, which triggers landholder duty when there is a change of control of the trustee of a unit trust, has been upheld by VCAT.

The power to remove and appoint a trustee is widely accepted to be fiduciary in nature, exercised for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the trust, not the benefit of the appointor.

Validly executed distribution resolutions or minutes are critical to ensuring that the correct beneficiaries are entitled to trust distributions.

Section 99B, the “sequel” to 2022’s s 100A focus, may make taxpayers and advisers wish they had a bigger boat.

A recent Supreme Court of Queensland decision serves as another reminder that strict adherence to the requirements in the trust deed is paramount for BDBNs.

In the absence of fraud, a mutual will agreement does not create a trust obligation on the surviving spouse in favour of other beneficiaries of the will.

Revenue NSW has determined that foreign surcharges breach international tax treaties. Will other revenue offices follow suit? How do you ensure that your trust is not a foreign trust?

Discovering that distributions have been made to an invalid beneficiary may only be the beginning of your problems.

The High Court has confirmed that, in certain circumstances, the presumption of advancement can apply to contributions to the purchase price of property or the transfer of assets.

Recent decisions of the Victorian Supreme Court have confirmed that the consequences for trustees are potentially disastrous if trust documentation is mislaid and cannot be located.

Does context and purpose narrow the reach of s 100A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936?

In addition to the “general” non-arm’s length income provisions, special rules apply to distributions from a trust to a complying superannuation fund.

This article aims to clarify some of the uncertainties and difficulties that arise on the appointor or guardian of a discretionary trust losing their decision-making capacity