How to co-own property without conflict, confusion, or costly mistakes
Buying property with family or friends is becoming increasingly common in today’s market. It’s an exciting achievement, but without the right legal framework co-owning property can lead to conflict, financial stress, and damaged relationships. You shouldn’t have to choose between getting into the property market and protecting your relationships with the people you care about. […]
You’ve been told to make a family trust election. Here’s what that actually means.
If you’re running a family business or managing family wealth through a trust, chances are your accountant has recommended that you “make a Family Trust Election” (or FTE for short). If your response was, “Sure… what exactly is that?”, you’re not alone. Let’s demystify what this election is, why it’s coming up now, and why it’s worth talking to a lawyer before you commit. What is a […]
Changes to trust taxation in the Federal Budget: Is there still a case for keeping a family trust in my structure?
We’re hearing this question from many of our clients since the Federal Budget announcement on 12 May 2026 introduced proposed changes to how family trusts (also called discretionary trusts) are taxed. Small to medium-sized businesses, family business owners and individuals who have taken steps to limit their personal liability are now questioning the value of […]
Australia’s new AML/CTF rules: what changes from 1 July 2026
If you have engaged a lawyer, accountant, conveyancer or real estate agent recently, you may already have been asked for more identification than usual. From 1 July 2026, those asks become standard practice across the profession. Your advisers will need to verify who you are. They will also ask about the source of funds in […]
Set up and manage a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF)
Set up and manage a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) Control over your retirement savings starts with a fund built to hold them. You want your super invested the way you would invest it, not the way a default option would. An SMSF gives you that. It also makes you the trustee: the person who signs […]
Set up an SMSF borrowing arrangement (LRBA)
Set up an SMSF borrowing arrangement (LRBA) Your fund can borrow to buy one asset, and the rules for how are exact. Your fund has found the asset but not the full purchase price. A limited recourse borrowing arrangement is the only route superannuation law leaves open. The asset sits in a separate bare trust […]
Update your Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) deed
Update your Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) deed The deed decides what your fund is allowed to do, and it was written a long time ago. Nobody reads their SMSF deed until the fund needs to do something. Then the accountant asks for a pension the deed does not contemplate, or a binding nomination it never […]
Transfer business real property into your SMSF
Transfer business real property into your SMSF The building your business trades from can be the asset your super retires on. You own the premises your business operates from, and they sit outside super doing nothing for your retirement. Business real property is the one asset class an SMSF is allowed to buy from you. […]
Make a superannuation death benefit nomination
Make a superannuation death benefit nomination Your super does not pass under your will, and the person who decides is the person who survives you. Superannuation is often the largest asset a person owns, and it is not theirs to leave. It sits in a trust. When you die the trustee decides who receives it, […]
Make compliant SMSF investments
Make compliant SMSF investments The flexibility is real, and so is the line you cannot cross. You have found something you want the fund to invest in, and it is not on any platform’s menu. That is the whole point of running your own fund. It is also where the rules begin to apply at […]