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15 July 2025
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Trusts offer flexibility and asset protection, but in relationship breakdowns, courts can 'look through' them. Understanding control, purpose, and asset origins is key to preserving trust benefits in family law disputes.
Unlike family trusts, testamentary trusts are activated posthumously, empowering you to exert post-death control over your assets. Learn how testamentary trusts offer unique benefits and protective measures.
There are well over 800,000 family trusts in Australia, controlling more than $3 trillion of assets. Here's a guide on whether a family trust may have a place in your individual investment strategy.
We’ve seen how the transfer of wealth can work well, with inherited wealth helping families grow and thrive for generations, as well as how things can go horribly wrong. Here are tips on how to get it right.
Super reviews aggregate retirees into an impersonal number on a chart, but the 2,700 Australians who retire each week are undergoing a major change in their lives. Why and when do they retire and then what?
Australians don't need dodgy schemes in Caribbean islands to hide their wealth. There are plenty of legal ways to avoid paying tax but they will leave personal income tax carrying a heavy burden for future generations.
The new tax on super over $3 million brings alternatives into play for tax efficiency. For investors who can be bothered juggling different types of pools, there are ways to avoid the tax on unrealised gains.
Family trusts are used to hold wealth, with benefits like asset protection, tax planning, capital gains tax discount and ability to carry forward losses. But there are disadvantages that must be weighed up.
Some of our readers have said family trusts have little merit because of the tight limits on the amount that can be distributed to children paying low tax rates. But the use of bucket companies drives many of the structures.
Labor has foreshadowed significant amendments to a wide range of financial policies, and while the new PM has time to make up lost ground, Labor is favourite to win the next federal election.
The success of this claim on John Hemmes' estate and the unexpected amount involved provides a reminder to ensure you have a robust estate plan in place.
The intricacies of family trusts can be confusing, but examining the potential through the eyes of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs shows whether a trust is a dopey or happy move.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers aims to tackle tax reform but faces challenges. Previous reviews struggled due to political sensitivities, highlighting the need for comprehensive and politically feasible change.
You've no doubt heard about Division 296. These case studies show what people at various levels above the $3 million threshold might need to pay the ATO, with examples ranging from under $500 to more than $35,000.
The $3m super tax could be put down to the Government needing money and the wealthy being easy targets. It’s deeper than that though and this looks at the factors behind the policy and why more taxes on the wealthy are coming.
The super tax has caused an almighty scuffle, but for SMSFs impacted by the proposed tax, a big question remains: what should they do now? Here are ideas for those wanting to withdraw money from their SMSF.
Business investment and per capita GDP have languished over the past decade and the Labor Government is conducting inquiries to find out why. Franking credits should be part of the debate about our stalling economy.
With Div. 296 looming, is there a smarter way to tax superannuation? This proposes a fairer, income-linked alternative that respects compounding, ensures predictability, and avoids taxing unrealised capital gains.