Live Webinar: Too Many Beneficiaries? The Tax and Trust Law Risks of Casting the Net Too Wide

Broadly drafted beneficiary classes have traditionally been used to maximise flexibility in discretionary trusts. However, developments across Federal tax law and State revenue regimes mean that the breadth of a beneficiary class can now give rise to unintended consequences, even where no distributions are made to those beneficiaries.

This session provides a practical overview of the risks associated with widely drafted beneficiary classes and how they interact with modern integrity rules. It will cover:

• The evolving risk profile of broad beneficiary classes in discretionary trusts
• Key Federal tax considerations, including the potential application of association, control and deeming provisions
• State tax and duty implications, including grouping, landholder and trust acquisition provisions
• Trust law considerations, including the nature of beneficiary rights and implications for trustee decision-making
• Practical approaches to reviewing and, where appropriate, refining beneficiary classes in existing trust structures

The session is designed for practitioners advising on trust structuring and will focus on identifying risk areas and practical strategies for managing them in a commercially workable way.