Testamentary
Trusts
Protect your legacy and support loved ones with a Testamentary Trust. Our Family Trust lawyers in Perth can help you create smart, secure solutions for children, vulnerable beneficiaries or complex family situations.
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The Law
Australasia
Pursuit of
Excellence Award
Doyle’s guide
award
2024 | 2023 | 2022
2021 | 2020 | 2019
How we can help you
Testamentary Trusts can give you the ability to protect assets and potentially reduce tax paid by beneficiaries on income earned from an estate. Set up within a Will, they are activated upon death and offer powerful flexibility for a wide range of situations. They can be especially valuable for young children, who cannot legally inherit until 18, or for adult beneficiaries with high-risk behaviours such as gambling or financial instability.
Testamentary Trusts Wills are also ideal for supporting vulnerable family members, including those living with a disability, by providing tailored long-term care. While highly effective, they can be complex, so careful planning with the right advice is essential.
Here’s how we can help:
- Protecting assets from waste from a high risk beneficiary
- Protecting assets from a beneficiary’s marital breakdown
- Protecting assets from a beneficiary’s commercial breakdown
- Protecting your most vulnerable beneficiaries
- Reduction in tax, particularly when a beneficiary has a high tax rate
- Reduction in tax when a partner has a lower income
- Reduction in tax when minor children and grandchildren are involved
What you need to know about Testamentary Trusts
Testamentary trust Wills are one of the most flexible and powerful tools in estate planning. There are as many types of Testamentary Trusts as there are families, they can be highly customised to suit one person, an entire family, or even multiple generations.
These Trusts can be designed to protect children, adults, or both. They are especially effective when it comes to:
Protecting younger beneficiaries
By law, children under 18 cannot inherit directly. Any inheritance must be held on Trust until they reach the legal age. But 18 is often too young to manage a lump sum responsibly. Testamentary Trusts allow you to set a more appropriate age such as 21, 25, or even later depending on your circumstances.
Choosing the right trustees
Selecting your Trustees is one of the most important parts of setting up a Trust. We often recommend appointing two Trustees to ensure accountability and oversight. This reduces the risk of poor management or misuse of the Trust
Powerful tax advantages
Testamentary Trusts offer strong tax benefits. For example, if you have two young children, the Trust can distribute around $19,000 per child each year tax-free. A regular Family Trust set up during life, in contrast, can only distribute about $500 per child before tax is applied at the highest rate. This difference makes a Testamentary Trust incredibly cost-effective from the outset.
Planning for disability and vulnerability
For beneficiaries with a disability, a Special Disability Trust can be created under the Social Security Act. Up to $500,000 can be placed in the trust and excluded from means testing. The Trust can also be structured to return remaining funds to other family members once the primary beneficiary passes away. Trusts can also protect vulnerable individuals from losing their inheritance to divorce, lawsuits, or financial mismanagement. For example, if your child were to divorce, a Trust can help prevent their spouse from accessing inherited assets.
Protecting assets across generations
roperty Trusts can be used to ensure assets pass down to your blood relatives, rather than being absorbed into blended families. These structures are commonly used to support stepchildren while protecting inheritance lines across generations.
Customised to fit your family
Whether you are focused on tax planning, asset protection, or looking after a vulnerable family member, Testamentary Trusts can be tailored to suit your wishes. We can work with you to draft a Trust that fits your family’s needs and protects what matters most to you.
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Frequently asked questions
What do I need to know about a Trust?
Do I need a Trust?
What is a Testamentary Trust?
How do Testamentary Trusts help protect young beneficiaries?
What are the tax benefits and other uses of Testamentary Trusts?
Talk to us about Testamentary Trust Wills
If you’re thinking about protecting your estate and your family’s future, our team of Family Trust lawyers in Perth can help you create a tailored Testamentary Trust that fits your needs. Fill in the form below to get started.
