Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
How it helps succession
Assets held by the trust pass per your terms, avoiding probate-style delays and family disputes.
Plan tax and stamp duty
Transfers into the trust can have tax and stamp-duty implications — structure it with advice.
Setting it up so it actually works
A family trust does its succession job only if it’s set up and funded correctly, so the mechanics matter. You draft a trust deed naming the settlor, the trustees (often including a professional or a trusted family member), and the beneficiaries, and setting out how income and capital are to be distributed, now and across generations, plus rules for trustee succession and for amending or winding up the trust. You then actually transfer the assets — shares, property, deposits — into the trust’s name; a trust that’s drafted but never funded achieves nothing, and the transfer itself can carry stamp duty and tax implications that need planning (gifting to a trust for relatives can be exempt, but the details matter). Once funded and managed by the trustees rather than the individual, the assets pass per the deed’s terms on the settlor’s death without going through probate, which is what avoids the delays and disputes of inheritance and ring-fences the assets from individual creditors or family discord. Holding business or investment assets in the trust can also give continuity of control. Because succession, tax, stamp duty and family dynamics all intersect, a family trust is worth structuring with professional advice rather than from a template. Confirm the tax and stamp-duty treatment for your assets and state.