How you structure your assets can impact your tax obligations and liability, but can also secure them so that family or significant assets can be protected for future generations.

​

There are several forms of trusts, including:

​

• Family Trusts  - these are trusts that are generally discretionary in nature and set up as a vehicle for a family business or to hold assets. There trusts are mainly used to split family income, or provide an added layer of asset protection against the operation of family law, bankruptcy and insolvency. 
   

• Testamentary Trusts - these are trusts set up in a will, and can be fully discretionary in nature, protective (in the case of beneficiaries who have difficulty managing their own finances), charitable, or create a life interest in an asset in favour of a specific beneficiary. 
   

• Bare Trusts - these are trusts where a beneficiary has an absolute right to the capital of the trust and any income generated by the assets in the trust. This is a trust that is typically used in borrowing arrangements related to superannuation. 
   

• Unit Trusts - these are trusts that have a fixed entitlement and are often used in contexts where an asset is being jointly held by more than one party, or in instances of joint venture arrangements. 
   

• Hybrid Trusts - these are trusts that have both a discretionary and fixed elements, where there is a discretion to make payments under a trust further to the fixed payments allowed by the terms of the trust deed.

​

In setting up any trust, there are several factors to consider, including: 

​

• who will have control over the trust; 
   

• whether a corporation should be set up to act as trustee or appointor of the trust; 
   

• what objectives you intend the trust to achieve; 
   

• whether the trust can be exposed to being "busted" in some circumstances;
   

• what taxation implications a trust will have on you and beneficiaries it is intended to benefit; and
   

• how long you intend the trust to operate. 

​

Colquhoun Murphy has decades of experience setting up, varying, and advising clients in relation to trusts. We work closely with clients and with any financial advisors or accountants to ensure that your trust arrangements is suited to meet your needs and to maximum the protection of your assets for the benefit of future generations. 

​

If you require advice in relation to asset structuring or trusts, please contact us.