Post-death testamentary trust for a minor beneficiary
Protect children's inheritance with expertly structured testamentary trusts.
When a Will leaves assets to children, the default position under Australian law is that those children receive full, unconditional control of their inheritance at 18. For a significant estate, that can mean a young adult with no financial experience suddenly managing assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars – with no structure, no oversight, and no protection from the decisions they do not yet have the experience to make well.
A testamentary trust changes that. Established correctly, it holds and manages the inheritance for the children’s benefit, provides for education, healthcare, and living expenses in a structured and tax-effective way, and preserves the capital until the beneficiary is genuinely ready to receive it.
What is a post-death testamentary trust for a minor beneficiary?
A post-death testamentary trust is a trust established as part of the administration of a deceased estate, to hold and manage assets for a beneficiary who is a minor. Rather than distributing the inheritance directly to the child, the assets are held in trust — with trustees managing investments and making distributions for the child’s education, health, and welfare until the appointed time.
What is a testamentary trust?
A testamentary trust is a trust established under a Will that comes into effect on the death of the will-maker. It holds and manages assets for beneficiaries rather than distributing them directly, and is commonly used to protect children’s inheritance until they reach maturity.
What are the tax benefits of a testamentary trust for minor beneficiaries?
At what age does a beneficiary receive control of the trust assets?
Can a testamentary trust provide for multiple children?
The inheritance is protected until the child has the maturity to manage it, with trustees able to meet genuine needs in the meantime.
Where superannuation proceeds are involved, the Division 6AA structure is established within the required window, preserving concessional tax treatment.
The trust deed is designed for practical flexibility, trustees can respond to the child's changing needs without structural constraint.
Ready to protect children's inheritance with a testamentary trust?
Protecting the inheritance until they're ready for it
- We will review the estate and advise on the most appropriate trust structure for minor beneficiaries.
- We will prepare the testamentary trust deed and all supporting documentation.
- We will advise on investment management and distribution arrangements.
- We will complete the establishment of the trust and vesting from the estate.
Does this describe your situation?
You are an executor, family member, or adviser dealing with an estate that has minor beneficiaries – children who are entitled to inherit but who are either too young to receive assets now, or who will reach 18 before most thoughtful people would say they are ready to manage significant wealth.
The deceased may have wanted a trust established but never completed the documentation. The Will may give you discretion about how the inheritance is structured. You are aware that there are real tax advantages to getting this right, that the money could be significantly eroded if it is distributed outright, and that you are making decisions that will affect these children for years. The legal requirements are unfamiliar, the options are not obvious, and you need someone who can design a structure that actually achieves what the deceased intended.
What's included in your testamentary trust service
- Testamentary trust deed preparation.
- Trust structure design and advice.
- Investment and distribution framework documentation.
- Legal completion of trust establishment.
The risk of an unstructured inheritance
An 18-year-old who inherits outright is vulnerable – not necessarily from external threats, but from the ordinary forces of youth: lifestyle, relationships, business ideas, and financial decisions made without the experience to evaluate their consequences.
The tax system makes the problem worse: investment income earned by minor beneficiaries of a direct inheritance is taxed at the highest marginal rate, not at the adult rates that a correctly structured testamentary trust provides access to. And the window to act is finite – once assets are distributed from the estate, the opportunity to establish the protection that a trust provides is gone entirely. An inheritance intended to provide decades of security can be exhausted in a few years, and there is nothing left to rebuild it from.
How we structure the trust to protect the inheritance
We review the estate and each minor beneficiary’s circumstances, including their ages, the nature of the assets, and the family’s priorities for how the inheritance should be used, and design a trust structure that reflects those specifics rather than applying a generic template.
We prepare the testamentary trust deed, investment mandate, and all associated documentation, and advise on the governance arrangements so the trust is properly managed from the first distribution. The structure we establish holds the inheritance professionally, provides for the children’s needs in an appropriate and tax-effective way, and preserves the capital until the beneficiary is ready. The deceased built that wealth with a purpose – a well-structured testamentary trust is how you make sure it reaches the person it was intended for.
Protecting the inheritance properly from the outset.
Review the estate
We review the estate and the circumstances of the minor beneficiaries to design a trust structure that meets their needs and complies with the law.
Draft the trust
We prepare the testamentary trust deed, investment mandate, and all associated documentation to establish the trust correctly.
Establish and vest
We complete the legal steps to establish the trust and ensure the inheritance is transferred correctly from the estate.
Specialist estate lawyers ready to protect your children's inheritance.
We understand the weight of being responsible for a child’s financial future when the person who wanted to provide for them is no longer here to make those decisions. Getting this right matters enormously: a trust structure designed and documented correctly will protect a child’s inheritance across years and sometimes decades. One that is set up carelessly (or not set up at all) can mean the money is gone before they are 25.
ADLV Law has established testamentary trusts for families across Australia, covering assets from family homes held for young children to business interests and investment portfolios. We know the legal requirements and we know what actually protects an inheritance over time.
We understand you want to know the cost, before we get started.
We will map out our process, from beginning to end, so you know what the journey will look like before you get started.
We will provide you with a clear and detailed Work Proposal covering each step along the way.
Our fair fees are all-inclusive. No hidden costs for telephone calls, emails, photocopying, couriers, or coffee.
Our great lawyer guarantee
We want to be part of your team over the long term. We achieve this by adhering to these core principles:
Take the time
We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve. Then we thoroughly explain our advice and step you through the documents. You can be sure you know the full consequences.
Share our knowledge
We will pass on as much knowledge as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions. We want to make you truly independent.
Stick to our knitting
We only do what we're good at. You can be confident that we know what we're doing and don't pass on the cost of our learning.
Work as one team
Someone will always be available to answer your questions, or point you in the right direction. You will also benefit from a range of perspectives and experience.
Fair pricing
For advice and documents, we provide a fixed or capped quote so you don't take price risk. If you're in a dispute, we map out the process and costs so you know what to expect.
It's your show
We're not in this for our egos. We're in it for a front row seat to witness your success.
