Set up a family governance framework or family office

Set up a family governance framework or family office We will put a structure around family decisions before the next one has to be made informally. Most family wealth is governed by habit rather than by any agreement. That works while one generation is making the decisions and stops working the moment there are several. […]

Put a binding financial agreement in place

Put a binding financial agreement in place We will document what each of you brought, so a separation does not have to decide it later. A binding financial agreement decides in advance how property would be divided if a relationship ended. It is made under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (the Family Law Act), […]

Get ongoing support for your family office

Get ongoing support for your family office We will sit in the room each year and keep the framework working as the family changes. A governance framework is easy to sign and hard to keep. The charter gets agreed, the first meeting goes well, and then the family returns to making decisions the way it […]

Act under an enduring power of attorney

Act under an enduring power of attorney We will tell you what you can and cannot do with someone else’s money, before you do it. Being appointed attorney is usually treated as an honour and then discovered to be a job. From the moment the power is activated you are managing another person’s finances, and […]

Be appointed financial manager or guardian for someone

Be appointed financial manager or guardian for someone We will make the application and get you appointed, so you can act for someone who can no longer decide. When someone loses capacity without having appointed an attorney, nobody automatically steps into the gap. Not a spouse, not an adult child, not the person who has […]

Pursue a claim under an insurance policy

Pursue a claim under an insurance policy We will hold the insurer to the policy it wrote, and to the time it is taking. An insurance policy is a contract, and a declined claim is a contractual position rather than a final answer. Insurers decline for reasons that range from sound to arguable to simply […]

Have your documents notarised

Have your documents notarised We will notarise your documents in the form the receiving country will actually accept. A document that is perfectly valid in Australia can be rejected abroad for the way it was signed. Foreign courts, registries and government agencies generally will not accept a witness they cannot verify. That is why they […]

Defend family wealth from an outside claim

Defend family wealth from an outside claim We will keep the claim away from the assets, and show why they were never available to it. Family wealth usually gets attacked from outside the family. A creditor of one member’s business. A claim against an estate. A separating partner of a child, reaching for a trust […]

Review your structure and protect your assets

Review your structure and protect your assets We will find out which assets are exposed to which risks, and move the ones sitting in the wrong place. Most business structures are not designed. They accumulate. An entity added for a new venture. A property bought in whichever name was convenient. A trust set up for […]

Protecting your trust: planning for trustee incapacity before it happens

If you are creating a testamentary or discretionary trust, you want to know it will operate smoothly long after you are gone. But what happens if the trustee you appoint loses the capacity to make decisions? Without the right safeguards, the trust you designed to protect your beneficiaries could grind to a halt – leaving assets unmanaged, distributions delayed, and […]