Legal Consolidated publishes PRUDENCE each week. It is emailed to accountants & financial planners. But anyone can join the free mailing list.
Clients falsely believe that Unit Trusts are immune to the foreigner surcharge stamp duty and land tax rules They think, "Since the Unit Trust is a fixed trust, the regulator can see that the unitholders are Australian. We are safe." Be careful. The rules for…
At their death, the client may wish to leave the assets in their Will to the existing Family Trust. This is because they want to use the accumulated tax losses in the Family Trust. This is often a mistake. It triggers Division 6AA penalty tax rates and risks…
Submission by: Adjunct Professor Dr Brett Davies SJD, MBA, LLM, LLB, BJuris, Dip Ed, BArts(Hons) Adjunct Professor, The University of Western Australia & Adjunct Reader, Curtin University Partner, Legal Consolidated Barristers & Solicitors Abstract This paper…
26 November 2025 | Estate planning and trust law | Family law Practitioner Article By: Barbara Smith AM , Dr Ed Koken and Dr Brett Davies There are three types of couple relationships in Australia where two people are in a romantic or sexual relationship – de…
Withdrawing wealth from your proprietary limited company is difficult. Australian tax law, particularly the tortious Division 7A rules, is designed to keep wealth 'trapped' inside the corporate structure. Your company is a separate legal person. The company's…
Yes, you can prepay rent. A Legal Consolidated Commercial Lease is specifically engineered with the express power to do so. Our law firm’s Commercial Lease allows a tenant to pay rent in advance. This special feature is designed for all business structures.…
A son works on a farm for three decades. His father makes him a promise. You get the farm. But the father's Will gives the land to his other children. The son sues the estate. The court upholds the Will. The son loses the farm he worked his whole life to…
You must decide how to distribute your Family Trust's income before 30 June each year. Documenting this decision after the fact is not just poor practice. It is a crime. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) now actively looks for backdated documents. It has…
