The appointor couldn't have any control over a company. It would generally be the shareholders of the company that appoint the director. Of course the same person who is shareholder could also be appointor, but these are separate roles and entitites.

Not all lawyers know how to draft wills. Most lawyers will not have a clue. Some do not even study Succession in their degrees as it is optional. One of my friends died of cancer recently. He got his solicitor to draft the will knowing he was dying and she made at least 9 errors which could have had devastating consequences. Another friend with a huge estate and $2mil in super went to a so called will expert. I told him about binding nominations for super and the guy included super in the will with no nomination talked about her signed.

testamentary capacity is the capacity to do a will. There is a whole heap of issues here. If someone doesn't have it, then the will will be invalid. It often comes into question with elderly people who may not have anything wrong with them, but some relative will claim they didn't have capacity when they changed their will etc.

Intestacy is dying without a will. If something is forgotten, and is not covered by any other clause then there will be a partial intestacy. This is why a residiary clause should be included. eg the remainder goes to uncle John Smith.

If someone is forgotten, or not forgotten but not included, then that person may have  stronger claim if they are an eligible person under the family provision sections.

Wills generally require 2 adult witnesses who are not beneficiaries who witness the testator signing and sign in the presence of each other.

I think you will find a lawyer means a legal practitioner including solicitors and barristers. see the Legal Professional Act and you will find it is used in Australia too.

Ishtvan

Trust assets can be deemed assets of the marriage. There are heaps of cases on this area. Austlii is down at the moment, so I cannot look up the Family Law Act, but there are sections which give courts the power to make an order on trustees. The trust income can also be considered a financial resource of one of the parties too.

Wills are binding, but they can be challenged. The only way to make a will very strong from challenge is to make adequate provision for all parties that may be able to make a change. Also make sure there is no question about the will such as testamentary capacity at the time of making, leaving all assets in the will (forgetting someone may lead to partial intestacy), having it witnessed properly etc. This is why you need a lawyer to draft it.

If your husband is part owner then he can only buy your share, not the whole property (can't sell to yourself).

You would need a valuation to be done to determine market value, cant rely on your own estimates for tax purposes.

You should also get legal advice as there are many issues to consider – family law, estate planning, asset protection, stamp duty and also tax advice regarding the CGT and income tax issues.

Just had a quick look at the CSA site, http://www.csa.gov.au/child_support_formula/your_income_details.php
and it doesn't mention anything about counting income from a trust you control – unless the person being assessed in receiving the income.

So, on first glance, you could possibly set up a trust and distribute the income to a third party so as the trust income is not assessed for the child support income calculation.

But this must happen a fair bit and would be surprised if they haven't tried to put a stop to it.

It all depends on how much you have and in what form and how much you want to give to whom.

It would be difficult to make it even with 2 assets like that, but it would be possible to give part of the office building to the other kid too.
eg you could leave the office building in a unit trust with 75% of the units owned by A's discretionary trust and 25% by B's discretionary trust. Of you could leave if to the 2 trusts jointly as joint tenants with 75% owned by the trustee of A's trust etc.

I have never looked into the child support side, but if it was centrelink they would regard any trust in which you dad had a role as being his assets and income. So if he was an appointor/trustee/beneficary/director/shareholder in any trust or company then there would be a very long form to fill out and they would assess the trust and possibly consider the trust assets as his own personal assets for the purpose of assessing benefits.

It is possibly similar with child support.

There is a special trust which is good for tax savings with child support. This is usually called a child support trust or a child maintenance trust. Income from a child support trust can go to the child with huge income tax benefits. The child would be able to earn up to $16,000 pa tax free.

The benefit to the parent is that this income does not pass through them so they are not paying tax on it and then giving it to the ex. The money comes straight from the trust.

If the kid was made a beneficiary of a discretionary trust then they could receive income from the trust too. But it wouldn't count as child support and the child would only be able to get $416 pa trust free. They could end up paying 66% on the rest.

There are many conditions to these though.

yes

Firstly, is the property solely in your name now? Assuming it is.

CGT wll be payable on the sale price less value at the date you moved out of it you moved out of it, so roughly $600k – $580k. Less fees such as stamp duty etc. 50% discount on CG too. So probably little or no CGT will be payable.

Your husband can buy your property and borrow to do so. If the house is a rental then he should be able to claim the whole of the interest borrowed.

You still have to watch out for the ATO applying Part IVA Tax Act and saying this is a scheme with a dominant purpose of tax. Maybe it is for estate planning reasons instead?

Stamp duty would depend on the state the property is located in. In NSW stamp duty would be payable I think. In full. In Vic you may be exempt.

I have also assumed this is not being done as the result of a divorce or family law settlement – if so there would be no CG and no stamp duty probably.

I think you will find CGT will be calculated on the sell price less the buy price less any expenses including some expenses you incur on the reno, but not all. I dont think a valuation will be necessary for CGT purposes.

Best to talk to your tax advisor.