Testamentary Trusts

In this VLOG Camille looks Testamentary Trusts and their benefits

What is a Testamentary Trust?

A testamentary trust is essentially just a trust created under your will, and it only comes into effect after you pass away. You may have heard of family trust, that is a trust during your lifetime, a testamentary trust is created under your will but comes into effect, once you pass away.

What are the benefits of a Testamentary Trust?

There are a number of benefits to putting in place a testamentary trust, including asset protection, as it can provide protection from any family law disputes. If you have, children that are in relationships, or grandchildren that are in relationships if any of them break down.

It can also provide asset protection in the form of protection if one of your children or any beneficiary of the trust becomes bankrupt, those assets are quarantined away by the trust and held in the trust name, rather than in that individuals name who has gone into bankruptcy.

The other benefits is tax minimisation, which, under the trust, the income can be split between the beneficiaries, so you can tailor it to beneficiaries that have lower tax thresholds, to minimise that tax.

You can also use minors to distribute income to them and save on tax because, they can be taxed at the adult tax rates, which can be really beneficial especially if you do have that flow of family, so you have you know, children, grandchildren, you can distribute income to a number of beneficiaries.

How can we help?

We put in place the testamentary trust for clients now and they really see the benefits in it and we’ve also experienced the benefits after those clients pass away in helping children and family members proceed and set up those trusts.

If you have any questions or should you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at Southern Waters Legal.

What do you think? We would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to submit your comments below or comment on our Facebook Page or LinkedIn.