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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 one purpose and then used for another. The result is usually a group where the assets and the risk sit in the same place. That is the one arrangement asset protection is meant to avoid. A structure review establishes what you own, through what, and what each part is exposed to.

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The whole picture on one page

Every entity, what it holds and what it owes, including the guarantees that never appear on a chart.

Exposure priced, not assumed

Moving an asset has a capital gains and duty cost, and sometimes it exceeds the risk it avoids.

Changes made while they are safe

A transfer made once a claim is on foot can be unwound, which is why the work belongs in the quiet period.

What does a structure review look at?

A structure review maps the entities you control, the assets each one holds, and the liabilities each one carries. The purpose is to see where risk and value overlap. Trading activity generates liability, and any asset held in the entity doing the trading is available to satisfy it. Personal guarantees, loans between entities and security interests all move exposure around in ways that are rarely obvious from an organisation chart. A review sets out what would actually be at risk if a claim were made, and where that differs from what you assumed.

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Is it too late to protect assets once there is a problem?

Usually yes, for the assets concerned. A transfer made when a creditor is in prospect can be set aside, and doing it can make the position worse rather than better. Asset protection is work for the period when nothing is wrong, which is exactly when it feels unnecessary.

Should the business premises be in the trading company?

Generally not. An asset held by the entity that carries the trading risk is available to satisfy a claim against that trading. Holding the property in a separate entity and leasing it to the business is the usual answer. Whether moving it now is worthwhile depends on the tax and duty cost.

Do personal guarantees undo the structure?

They can. A guarantee reaches past the entity to you personally, which is often the single largest exposure in an otherwise sensible structure. Most people have given more of them than they remember. Listing and reviewing them is part of any structure review.

How much does restructuring cost?

The legal work is usually the smaller part. Capital gains tax and stamp duty on moving assets are what determine whether a change is worth making. We price those first, because the answer is sometimes that the structure should stay as it is.

Find out what is actually exposed

Tell us what entities you have and what each one holds. We will map the exposure and tell you which assets are sitting in the wrong place.

Asset protection fails where the assets and the trading sit together

You have built something worth protecting and you believe it is structured sensibly. What has usually never been done is a deliberate look at which entity holds what, and what each of those entities is exposed to. Structures that made sense when they were set up drift as the business changes. The exposure is not obvious until a claim, a guarantee or a personal liability makes it obvious.

We will map every entity you control, what it holds and what it owes.
We will identify the guarantees, intercompany loans and security interests that move exposure.
We will tell you which assets would be at risk if a claim were made today.
We will price the capital gains tax and duty cost of moving anything.
We will implement the changes that are worth making, while no claim is in prospect.

The structure grew with the business and nobody stood back

There is a trading company, probably a trust, and maybe a second company from a venture that has since changed shape. Property is held in one or two of them. Each decision made sense at the time. You have given personal guarantees to a bank and possibly to a landlord, and you are not entirely sure what they cover. Nobody has ever drawn the whole thing on one page and asked what happens if the trading entity is sued.

What's included in your structure review

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A map of every entity, its control, assets and liabilities.
A register of guarantees, intercompany loans and security interests.
An exposure assessment against the risks that actually apply to you.
A priced comparison of moving each exposed asset.
Implementation of the changes that are worth making.
Documentation of intercompany positions that were never recorded.

Where asset protection turns out not to exist

The structures that fail are rarely the ones nobody thought about. They are the ones that were right when they were built and were never revisited.

The common findings are consistent. The business premises sit inside the trading company, so a claim against the business reaches the building. A personal guarantee given years ago for a small facility now secures a much larger one. Loans between entities were never documented, so what everyone treated as capital is an unsecured debt in a liquidation. The family home is in one name and the business risk is in the same name.

Each of these can be addressed while things are going well. Almost none can be addressed once a claim is on foot, because a transfer made under threat of a creditor can be unwound. The window for asset protection is when you do not need it.

From a structure that accumulated to one you actually chose

We map the whole group first: every entity, who controls it, what it holds and what it owes. That includes the things that do not appear on a chart, like guarantees, intercompany loans and registered security interests.

Then we test it against the risks that actually apply to you. Where an asset sits in an exposed entity, we tell you what moving it would cost in capital gains tax and duty. The decision is then made on numbers rather than on principle. Sometimes the answer is that moving it costs more than the risk justifies. Where a change is worth making, we do it while there is no claim in prospect. That is the only time it is safe to.

How we review and improve a structure

Map everything, test the exposure, then move what is worth moving.

Map the group

We set out every entity, who controls it, what it holds and what it owes.

Test the exposure

We work out what would actually be at risk if a claim were made against the trading entity.

Move what matters

We price each change and implement the ones worth making, while no claim is in prospect.

The whole group mapped, and the exposure tested against real risks

Nobody sets out to build a structure with the assets and the risk in the same entity. It happens one sensible decision at a time, over years.

One of our lawyers is a Chartered Tax Advisor with The Tax Institute and has held that credential for 25 years. Two of our lawyers are full members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. We review business and family group structures, map the exposure including guarantees and undocumented loans, and price any restructure before it is done. Where moving an asset would cost more than the risk justifies, we will tell you to leave it where it is.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Find out what is really at risk

Tell us what entities you have, what each one holds and what guarantees you have given. We will map the exposure and tell you what is worth changing.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590