By Hayden Nelson In the recent case of Bosanac v FCT (2022) 18 ABC(NS) 521, the High Court made a decision that touched on the legal principles involved with resulting …
Equitable Proprietary Interests in Australia
By Jackson McKinley Legal and equitable interests are the two main types of property interests under Australian law. Legal interests are those that are recognised by the law and are …
Do I need a family trust? Probably not.
There are various types of trusts. This article uses general terminology but is probably most relevant in terms of family discretionary trusts, unless otherwise specified. Trusts have a few purposes. …
Foreign beneficiaries and discretionary trusts
Does your family trust expressly exclude ‘foreign persons’ as potential beneficiaries? Chances are, it does not, and Revenue Ruling G010 (v2) from the NSW Commissioner of State Revenue suggests …
How ‘bucket companies’ work in family trusts
There is a common belief that family trusts have limited uses unless there are beneficiaries on lower rates of tax to distribute income to. In fact, some argue their purpose …
Unit trusts as a way to structure employee incentive schemes
We have previously touched on the importance of shareholder agreements for small businesses. But should owners/founders always use shares and shareholder agreements to incentivize employees? While employee share schemes are …
IP basics for startups
It can be very difficult and costly to restructure a valuable enterprise once it leaves the startup phase, so it is important to have the right structure from the start. …
Hancock v Rinehart – Dispute over the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust
Despite imposing her vast resources to pressure her children to prevent them taking control of the the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, Gina Rinehart has failed to prevent her daughter Bianca Rinehart from being …