Sorry, I meant appreciated.But, seriously, you can claim guard dogs in some instances including their up keep.

I once depreciated my dog.

Trusts are separate entities for tax purposes. They submit their own tax returns and are separate persons for tax. So any loss that a trust generates cannot be used by a third party.But trusts can negative gear property. Any loss can be used to offset other income of the trust, just not your personal income. This isn't much use for someone…[Read more]

I don't think so.

You can talk to your lawyer about trust splitting. Careful plannning may mean it possible to split the trust without a new trust being formed. very complex area though

You would need 2 separate trusts in that case.

You would need to see your tax advisor, although the average accountant may not know much about internation tax so you probably will need more specialist advice. Your advisor can probably help you set up the written loan agreement – although they couldn't draft a legal document unless they are a lawyer.I imagine you would be able to claim the…[Read more]

Yes, it is a good idea to plan for all possible events such as this. You also have to factor in control overall. Maybe one appointor, or two with some dispute resolution mechanism.

It could be that he just misunderstands.If you want to check you could do an ASIC search on his name and see what companies he is director or and/or shareholder in. Would cost you about $40

Yes that is right. If you guarantee one loan for trust A and set up trust B and guarantee for that loan too, then the guarantee for trust A will be taken into account.

You mention a company, but above you found out the trustee of the trust is your grandmother.The company is probably no a trustee but may be doing some other role such as running a business, or may be a 'bucket company'

You can divert the money to a company to cap the tax at 30%, but then you have problems with accessing the money.

The company can loan it back to the trust or to a beneficiary etc, but there are strict rules regarding this, known as Division 7A. Written commercial agreements are required.

In the good old days you could just borrow and never pay back!

Doesn' work like that.

In law school you only spend about 4 weeks on trusts and then you are not taught the commercial aspects or tax aspects so you can't really expect lawyers to know much about trusts unless they have an interest in the area. Same with accountants too.

intro = introduction

i am a solicitor specialising in trusts and estate planning, but learned everything i know by my own research.

Try http://www.trustmagic.com or http://www.trustmagic.com.au for the best intro on trusts.

You would have to show me the deed to make an assessment. eg. you may not be named specifically, or by title such as grandchild, but could be indirectly such as any shareholder of a company which……..

I think it will be CGT exempt.

Ishtvan051 wrote:
Yes, well if it come to that and my father ended up the appointer then we would include me and obviously my father as a beneficiary.But the existing deed would need to be ammended.

You can't generally add beneficiaries as this would mean a new trust is formed which means a resettlement = CGT and stamp duty on the whole trust…[Read more]