Bascially no 'structure' is going to protect your FIL because he would generally be giving a guarantee and allowing his property to be used as security.

There are ways to structure things so there is both asset protection and tax savings. Just bororw the deposit from FIL. No personal guarantees and no cross collateralising. If you go down he would lose the money he had lent you but not more.

Not correct againShelbyduck

If you are bankrupted a creditor may go after the trust assets. And they may be successful to a certain extent depending on the structure of the trust, terms of the deed and how it was used.

If a tenant sues the owner of the house then they will sue the trustee. If this is you your personal assets are totally exposed.

If the property is in your name or under a 'trust' either way you would have insurance and this will probably cover most event.

Funny comments about tax. There is no conflict of interest for a lawyer to advice on tax. Taxation is covered by legislation and regulations – ie laws. Laws are something lawyers advise on, but tax agents can also advise on. However tax is only one small consideration with trusts and tax agents could advise on the non tax aspects:

1 asset protection

2. succession

3 control

4 corporations act

5 fmaily law issues

6 bankruptcy issues

7 terms of the deed

etc

Only a solicitor can set up a trust. An accountant would sell a deed prepared by a solicitor. They can't legally do this in my opinion and in the opinion of the Courts – recent WA case states this is legal advice.

Some accountants charge by the hour, and not all lawyers do. I am a lawyer and a chartered tax advisor and I charge on a fixed fee basis.

Whether you need a new trust or can use the existing will depend on the terms of the trust, where you are buying and how it has all been structured.

A person wants to know if they can borrow against property located in the US. I am not sure what KYC has to do with it- no not a form of lubricant, but Know Your Client (i imagine). So I guess he is saying that the potential mortgagor must go to the US to get a loan because Australia has a KYC policy and therefore Arun presumes the US must also have one.

Arun are you a new broker?

I am going to be rude and straight to the point!.

Arun, you don't know what you are talking about!. You are dangerous.

I would first look at some asset protection strategies and then consider paying down non deductible debt before reborrowing to invest.

I am doing one now. St George can go up to 85% depending on the security.

I just sold 5 acres in Tahmoor a few years ago. Prices have been booming.

I suggest your dad seek taxation advice urgently. It could be worthwhile changing ownership now before sub-divison as this could save tax and possibly stamp duty. You should also carefully plan how you are to receive this money – from both a legal point of view (estate planning and asset protection etc) and from a tax perspective.

How you do all this will depend on a whole host of factors.

In that case then I don't think there are any concessions in SA, but am not totally sure.

I would suggest it all depends – if you sold those properties could you make more money elsewhere?

How is the fund performing so far? It must be just over a year old now.