Experienced Lawyers in Melbourne & across regional Victoria for Will Trusts
Have a vulnerable loved one that needs protection following your passing? Stratus Legal Group offers fixed pricing on testamentary Trusts, with no hourly rates.
Will Trusts
A Will trust, also known as a testamentary trust, is one that is established upon the death of the Will maker. In a standard Will, the estate’s entitlement passes to the beneficiaries immediately after the Will is proved. A trust established in a Will allows a trustee to hold the beneficiary’s assets without them passing to them.
When a Trustee holds assets on behalf of a beneficiary, they are not yet the beneficiary’s property. If a beneficiary is vulnerable, such as if they have a substance or gambling problem, this can help them. There may also be tax advantages for the estate, such as income-producing estate property that is then distributed to the beneficiaries.
More information about Will Trusts
It holds and protects all, or some, of the person’s assets such as property and investments. The trust looks after the assets for the beneficiaries, particularly vulnerable beneficiaries. Beneficiaries are the people or organisations that will benefit from the trust.
Special disability trusts are one-of-a-kind trusts built around a set of rules that can help with the gifting of assets to a disabled person. The idea behind these trusts is to maximise entitlements while also being able to leave a substantial gift to a disabled person to help them throughout their lives. They are a way for families to budget for someone with a severe disability’s long-term care and living expenses.
The following are the essential components of a special disability trust:
• There is only one beneficiary (You can set up more than one trust in your Will to accommodate non-disabled beneficiaries.)
• The beneficiary must have a clearly defined severe disability.
• Gifting concessions are available to the beneficiary’s immediate family members who are of retirement age or who receive a pension.
• For eligible family members of the beneficiary, a gifting concession of up to $500,000 is available, which can only be used once. For example, if an eligible contributor makes a gift to a Special Disability Trust and receives a concession, the concession amount cannot be made accessible by any other immediate family members after the contributor dies.
Things to Consider
Having experience in all aspects of estate planning and wills, we are able to consider options that usually haven’t been thought of by our clients. This is where true experience makes a difference.
Familys and relationships are complicated and sometimes it can be awkward to discuss your private life. We assure you there is no circumstances in your family that you should feel like you can’t discuss with us as the more information we have, the more we can ensure you receive the best legal advice.
We aim to keep the fees for estate planning as affordable as possible and can offer payment plans where needed. All Estate matters require full payment to be held in our trust account before we commence any detailed work.
We offer telephone, video and in person appointments to suit your needs. Our team will always do their best to promptly return calls, emails and letters.
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