Family Trusts

Discover clear and practical steps to confidently establish and manage a family trust

Family trusts can be a game-changer for protecting your assets, managing your wealth and securing your family's financial future—but they're often misunderstood. Family Trusts: A Plain-English Guide for Australian Families cuts through the complexity, simplifies legal and financial processes, and offers clear explanations and advice that you can really use.

This book will help you decide if a family trust is right for you, then provide simple steps that enable you to make informed decisions and confidently engage with advisers. Fully updated to reflect current laws and legislation, this sixth edition is essential for navigating the modern finance and taxation landscape.

Inside, you'll discover how to:

• Evaluate trusts: Weigh the advantages and disadvantages to determine if a trust is right for you—and identify alternative strategies
• Navigate tax and social security: Understand tax obligations, capital gains and how trusts impact benefits
• Protect your assets: Help safeguard against creditors and bankruptcy using strategic trust structures
• Tailor your trust: Explore discretionary trusts, unitised trusts and philanthropic uses, with the help of practical case studies

This expertly written guide includes updates on trustee qualifications, hybrid trusts, non-resident beneficiaries, and key legislative changes. It is a must-have resource for anyone looking to preserve their family's prosperity for generations to come.

About the authors vii

Preface ix

1. The concept of a trust 1

2. Modern family trusts — advantages and disadvantages 9

3. Types of family trusts 29

4. The trustee 39

5. Administrative aspects of a trust 63

6. Income tax as it relates to trusts and trust distributions 85

7. Capital gains tax 103

8. Taxation of family trusts 113

9. The family discretionary trust 137

10. Trust accounting 147

11. Social security 155

12. Investment decisions 171

13. Other types of trusts 177

14. Other issues to consider 197

Appendix A: Wills and trusts compared and contrasted 221

Appendix B: Differences between trust deeds and powers of attorney 223

Appendix C: Tax rates 2024–25 225

Glossary 229

Index 253

N. E. Renton (d. 2010) was a consulting actuary and author, well known for his many books and articles on investment, business, taxation and retirement issues.

R. A. Caldwell is a tax accountant with over 20 years of experience as an Australian Taxation Office (ATO) advisor and a tertiary level lecturer in taxation and management accounting. Rod is the author of Taxation for Australian Businesses, Learn Small Business Accounting in 7 Days and Learn Bookkeeping in 7 Days.

Protect your wealth and safeguard your family’s financial future with a trust

Family trusts are a valuable but often underutilised tool for managing wealth and protecting assets. Family Trusts: A Plain-English Guide for Australian Families breaks down the legal and financial aspects of family trusts into simple terms and provides a straightforward but comprehensive guide to help you make informed decisions and engage confidently with your advisors.

Including the most recent updates to Australian law and legislation, this sixth edition of Family Trusts walks you through all the information you need to decide whether a trust is right for you and your family.

You’ll learn how to:

• weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a family trust
• understand discretionary, unitised and philanthropic trusts
• help safeguard your assets against creditors and bankruptcy
• navigate and minimise your tax obligations
• protect and grow your wealth.

Family Trusts is a vital resource that provides accessible, accurate and up-to-date advice on this critical instrument for wealth protection in Australia.