Every now and then we meet people who tell us how dangerous trusts are or about the terrible things that happened in their family trust. 

We have heard lots of these sad stories, even firsthand about the farmer's daughter that sued her family trust. However, we like to compare trusts to cars, they have lots of uses and just as there are good drivers, there are also bad drivers that disobey all the rules, and this is when it ends up being a recipe for disaster. We have our own good stories including Family Trust: car for granddaughter.

We have a few simple rules, much like buying a good car and then maintaining it properly:

1. Get advice: before rushing around setting up trusts, ensure you enlist advice tailored to your situation.
2. Trust distribution minutes: make it your pre-end of financial year action to review and document these prior to 30 June each year, then file them away in case someone asks to see them.
3. Beneficiary loan accounts: ensure you bring any expenses paid to, for or on behalf of beneficiaries to their loan accounts to reflect the reality - family trusts exist for the good of the family. So, if you pay amounts out, just pop the details in each year and keep it tidy.

Disclaimer: This information is general in nature, and you should examine your situation carefully as the legislation or further information becomes available. So, before acting on this or any other information, it is important to seek professional advice related directly to you and your circumstances.  Should you require our assistance, contact your Primarius Team leader, or email us at info@primarius.net.au