Looking to set up the right structure for your farming business?

Structuring: Trusts & Companies

We’ll work with your accounting team and walk you through the options and their benefits- whether it be a family trust, a partnership or a company.
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How long does it take?

Allow a couple of weeks to have your new entity set up. If there are any extra legal steps required after your new entity is established we'll chat about the timing of those steps with you (as they depend on your circumstances).

Who's Involved?

  • You and your lawyer and a member of our property team
  • Your accountant
  • Your bank (if you have a mortgage in place and you need to refinance as part of the process)

What's the process?

Initial steps

We'll work with you to get a gauge on your circumstances and what you're hoping to achieve by setting up a new entity- whether it be for tax purposes, asset protection or estate or succession planning (or a combination of these reasons). We'll go through the pros and cons and discuss what changing your structures will mean for you.

Setting up a company

If you decide that a company is the best way to proceed, then we'll discuss who'll be the office holders (director/s and secretary) and shareholders of the company and get the other details we need to complete registration with ASIC and kick off your new company. Each of the office holders and shareholders will need to sign some paperwork to make it all official.

Setting up a trust

If a trust is the best vehicle for you, then we'll chat about whether the trust will be a discretionary (family) trust (where the trustees have the discretion to deal with the trust assets and the beneficiaries of the trust) or a unit (fixed) trust (where the beneficiaries have a fixed entitlement). We'll discuss who are the right people to have control of the trust and who will be the beneficiaries. We'll arrange for the new trust deed to be signed and stamped and give you advice to make sure the other legalities involved are also ticked off (e.g. payment of the settlement sum by the settlor to kick off the new trust).

It's common for the trustee to be a company, in which case, we'll also arrange to set up the new trustee company if required.

Next steps

Once your new entity has been created your accountant will be able to complete an ABN registration (if required). Then we can start to deal with your new entity, and assist with any further steps. This often involves transferring land or farm assets into your new entity, and considering the overall effect this will have on your will and estate planning to make sure your assets will be left in accordance with your wishes.

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Our Structuring: Trusts & Companies Team

Meagan Compton
Rebecca Alexander
Shaun Moloney
Grace Spokes
Ashleigh Goodwin
Nicholas Lenehan-Anderson
Peta Henderson
David Johnson
Lauren Mayer