Trusts in the Estate Plan: Structure, Tax and Succession Strategies - 5 part on-demand webinar series

Program 1: Who’s in Control? Managing Succession of Trust Control in the Estate Plan

Because a trust can outlive those who originally controlled it, ensuring clear and legally sound succession of control is a vital — and often overlooked — part of estate planning. Without proper planning, the transition of power can result in confusion, family conflict, or even litigation. This session explores how control of a trust can (and should) pass across generations to support the overall integrity of the estate plan. It covers:

• How trust control succession is shaped by:
  • the terms of the trust deed
  • the constitution of a corporate trustee and Corporations Act requirements
  • the death or will of company shareholders or directors
  • the appointment of executors
• Whether and how an appointor can be changed — lessons from Jenkins v Ellett [2007] QSC 154
• Common pitfalls that derail control transitions: silence in the deed, disputes among family, uncoordinated structures
• Planning tips for a smooth changeover of legal control, including documentation essentials
• Practical case study

Program 2: Next Chapter for the Family Trust: Preserve, Divide or Disband?

Once control of a family trust has passed to the next generation, the question becomes: what now? Should the trust continue? Be divided between siblings? Or dismantled entirely? This session explores the strategic and interpersonal decisions families and advisors must make when the family trust is central to the estate plan. This session covers:

• How to evaluate whether a trust should continue across generations, be divided, or be dismantled
• Using trust cloning and splitting to align with succession intentions without triggering tax issues
• Strategies for managing divergent needs of adult children — joint control vs separate trusts
• Drafting or revising shareholder agreements to support smoother succession in corporate trustee structures
• The implications of family trust elections and how they may restrict flexibility
• Case studies exploring how to manage long-term tension points, including financial disparity between children

Program 3: Taxing Times: Key Trust Tax Issues in the Estate Plan

Trusts are a cornerstone of many estate plans — but with the ATO ramping up its scrutiny and issuing a wave of guidance, tax risks for advisors are escalating. From unpaid present entitlements to the revived relevance of subdivisions EA and EB and the evolving scope of section 100A, this session explores the key trust-related tax issues that can undermine even the most carefully constructed estate plan. It covers:

• The implications of C of T v Bendel [2025] FCAFC 15 on UPEs and estate planning strategy
• Why subdivisions EA and EB ITAA 1936 are back in the tax spotlight — and what that means for trust planning
• The risks and tax treatment of “forgive and forget” strategies used to clean up inter-entity loans within a trust
• How section 100A applies in both inter vivos and testamentary trust contexts
• Practical examples highlighting key traps and how to navigate them

Program 4: Balancing the Blended Family: Structuring Trusts to Minimise Conflict

Trusts can provide crucial flexibility in blended family estate planning, but if used carelessly, they may trigger disputes rather than prevent them. This session focuses on how to structure and adapt trusts to balance the needs of spouses, ex-partners, and children from different relationships, while managing family dynamics and legal risks. It covers:

• How to deal with existing trusts where ex-spouses are still named as beneficiaries — and current spouses are not, including when a deed variation is appropriate
• Designing trust structures to support a surviving spouse while preserving capital for children from a previous relationship, including income streaming, capital preservation clauses and staged entitlements
• When to use a life interest, right to reside, or a discretionary trust – the key differences and their implications for tax, Centrelink and flexibility
• Strategies to reduce the risk of family provision claims from children of different parents
• Case study – a second marriage, adult children and a trust under strain – exploring how drafting helped manage the outcome

Program 5: Planning for Trust Vesting: Avoiding the Hidden Traps

Trust vesting is often overlooked — until it’s too late. An unplanned or unnoticed vesting date can have serious legal and tax consequences, potentially triggering a resettlement or crystallising unintended liabilities. With court decisions and ATO guidance not always aligned, trustees and advisors must stay alert and proactive as a vesting date approaches. This session explores key issues and planning strategies to avoid costly mistakes. It covers:

• What happens when a trust vests — from both:
  • tax and duty perspectives (TR 2018/6)
  • trust law perspectives
• When and how a trust’s vesting date can be amended — insights from Gengoult-Smith Family Trust [2024] VSC 189
• The conflict between ATO guidance and court rulings on extending vesting dates
• Whether extending a vesting date triggers a resettlement — and if so, the tax consequences (TD 2012/21)
• Whether a trust can leverage longer perpetuity periods available in other jurisdictions:
  • how to determine eligibility
  • whether asset location or trustee residence matters
• What to do if a trust has already vested without anyone realising
• Vesting clauses tied to a person’s death or a beneficiary’s age — hidden timing risks
• Drafting a new trust deed: choosing between hardwired vesting dates and flexible, discretionary vesting provisions