Welcome to my weekly Insights blog. Once a week, we cover topics such as wealth creation, super, estate planning and tax. This is Part 4 of our 10-part series on how wealthy Australian families build, protect and pass on their wealth.
In Part 1, we saw why wealthy families hold investments in a family trust. But here’s a question many trust owners have never asked: when you die, who controls the trust?
Assets in a family trust don’t form part of your estate, so your Will can’t simply leave them to someone. What passes on is control. If that isn’t planned, the wrong person can end up deciding who benefits from everything you’ve built.
Key takeaways
Your Will cannot give away assets held in a family trust, because the trust owns them, not you.
Control of a family trust usually sits with the appointor, who can remove and replace the trustee.
The trust deed decides who becomes the appointor after you die. If it’s silent, control can pass in ways you didn’t intend.
With a corporate trustee, control also depends on who inherits your shares in the trustee company and who becomes a director.
Money the trust owes you, such as a loan account or unpaid distributions, is part of your estate and should be dealt with in your Will.
The three roles that matter
Role
What they do
Why it matters
Trustee
Legally owns and manages the trust’s assets and decides distributions each year
Runs the trust day to day
Appointor (sometimes called principal or guardian)
Can remove the trustee and appoint a new one
Holds the ultimate control
Beneficiaries
The people and entities who can receive income or capital
Receive the benefit, but don’t control the trust
Think of the appointor as the person holding the keys. Whoever is appointor can, in effect, decide who runs the trust, and therefore who benefits from it.
What happens when you die
If you’re the appointor. The trust deed sets out what happens. Some deeds name a successor. Others pass the role to your legal personal representative (your executor), or let you nominate a successor in your Will. Some older deeds say nothing at all, which can leave the trust without anyone able to change the trustee.
If you’re an individual trustee. Any surviving trustee usually continues. If you were the sole trustee, a new trustee needs to be appointed, often by the appointor, and the trust’s assets have to be transferred into the new trustee’s name. That can be slow and costly, especially for real estate.
If there’s a corporate trustee. The company keeps going, so the trust’s assets don’t need to be re-titled. But someone still needs to control the company. Your shares in the trustee company pass under your Will, and the company needs a new director if you were the only one. This is why many families use a corporate trustee and plan its succession carefully.
How wealthy families plan trust succession
Read the trust deed. Find the original signed deed and every variation since. Check who the appointor is and what happens to the role on death or loss of capacity.
Name successors. Nominate successor appointors, often a spouse first and then one or more adult children jointly, in the way the deed allows.
Use a corporate trustee. It makes changes of control much simpler and avoids re-titling assets.
Align your Will. Your Will should deal with your shares in the trustee company, any appointor role the deed lets you pass on, and any loans the trust owes you.
Plan for loss of capacity, not just death. Check whether an attorney under your enduring power of attorney can act as appointor, and whether the company has an alternate director.
Don’t forget the loan account
Over the years, many people lend money to their family trust, or are allocated distributions that are never actually paid out. These amounts are debts the trust owes you, and they form part of your estate.
If they aren’t planned for, your executor may have to call in the debt, forcing the trust to sell assets. Your Will should say who receives these loans, or you might forgive them during your lifetime after getting tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can I leave my family trust to my children in my Will?
Not directly, because the trust’s assets aren’t yours to give. But you can usually pass control of the trust through the appointor role and your shares in a corporate trustee, as long as your Will matches what the trust deed allows.
Who is the appointor of a family trust?
The appointor is the person, or company, named in the trust deed with the power to remove and appoint the trustee. Because of that power, they effectively control the trust.
What if I can’t find my original trust deed?
Act now rather than leaving it for your family. A lost deed makes it hard to prove who controls the trust and what powers they have. A lawyer can often help reconstruct it from copies and records, but it’s far easier while you’re alive.
Make sure the keys go to the right person
A family trust can protect your wealth for generations, but only if control passes smoothly. Checking your deed, naming successors and lining up your Will takes a few hours now and can prevent years of family disputes later.
At TaxAssist Accountants Dee Why, we help Northern Beaches families review their trust deeds, loan accounts and succession arrangements, working alongside your estate lawyer. Call us on (02) 9045 1511 or email [email protected] to book a trust review.
This article contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances. It is not legal or financial product advice. Trust deed variations and Wills should be prepared by a qualified lawyer.
Welcome to my weekly Insights blog. Once a week, we cover topics such as wealth creation, super, estate planning and tax. This is Part 3 of our 10-part series on how wealthy Australian families build, protect and pass on their wealth.
Many people carefully write a Will, assuming it covers everything they own. But for most Australians, one of their largest assets isn’t covered at all: their super.
Super is held in trust by your fund’s trustee, not owned by you directly. When you die, the trustee decides who receives it, unless you’ve given them a valid instruction. Getting this wrong can send your super to the wrong person, or cost your family tens of thousands of dollars in avoidable tax.
Key takeaways
Your Will does not control your super. Your fund’s trustee decides who receives it unless you’ve made a valid binding nomination.
A binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) tells the trustee exactly who to pay. Many lapse after three years unless they’re non-lapsing.
Super can only be paid to your dependants or your estate. Adult children usually count as dependants for this purpose, but not for tax.
Super paid to adult children who weren’t financially dependent on you is often taxed at up to 17% on the taxable component, plus more if it includes an untaxed element.
Strategies such as a recontribution strategy and well-timed withdrawals can reduce that tax.
Why your Will doesn’t cover your super
Your Will deals with assets you own personally. Super is different: it’s held by the trustee of your fund under the fund’s trust deed and super law. When you die, your super doesn’t automatically pass to your estate.
Instead, the trustee pays your death benefit to one or more of your dependants, or to your legal personal representative (the executor of your estate). If you haven’t left a binding instruction, the trustee uses its discretion. That can lead to outcomes you didn’t intend, especially in blended families.
Your options for directing your super
Option
How it works
Certainty
No nomination
The trustee decides who to pay, following the fund’s rules
Low
Non-binding nomination
You state your wishes, but the trustee can still decide otherwise
Low to medium
Binding death benefit nomination
The trustee must pay the people you name, if the nomination is valid
High, while it stays valid
Reversionary pension
Your account-based pension continues automatically to a nominated person, usually your spouse
High
A binding nomination must be signed and witnessed correctly, and can only name eligible people. In many retail and industry funds, it lapses after three years unless the fund offers a non-lapsing version. In an SMSF, the rules depend on the fund’s trust deed, so the deed and the nomination need to match.
Who can receive your super
Super law only allows your death benefit to be paid to:
Your spouse, including a de facto partner
Your children, of any age
Anyone who was financially dependent on you, or in an interdependency relationship with you
Your estate, via your legal personal representative
If you want super to go to someone else, such as a sibling or grandchild who isn’t financially dependent on you, it generally has to be paid to your estate first and then dealt with under your Will. Paying super to your estate also lets it flow into a testamentary trust, which we’ll cover in Part 5.
The “death tax” on super
Australia doesn’t have an inheritance tax, but super comes close. Whether tax applies depends on who receives it, and that’s based on a different definition of “dependant” than the one above.
Tax-free: death benefits paid to a spouse or former spouse, a child under 18, or someone financially dependent on you or in an interdependency relationship.
Taxed: death benefits paid to adult children who weren’t financially dependent on you. The taxable component is generally taxed at up to 15% plus the 2% Medicare levy, and up to 30% plus Medicare levy on any untaxed element. If the benefit is paid through your estate, the Medicare levy doesn’t apply.
On a $600,000 super balance that is mostly taxable component, that can mean around $100,000 in tax for adult children. For many families, it’s the single largest tax bill in the whole estate.
How families plan around it
Recontribution strategy. Once you meet a condition of release, such as retiring after 60, you may be able to withdraw super tax-free and recontribute it as a non-concessional contribution. That converts taxable component into tax-free component, which adult children receive tax-free. Contribution caps and your total super balance limit how much you can do.
Withdrawing before death. If someone is terminally ill or very elderly, withdrawing super while they’re alive can avoid the death benefits tax entirely, because withdrawals after 60 are generally tax-free. This needs careful timing and an enduring power of attorney if capacity is a concern.
Directing super to tax dependants. Paying super to a spouse, and leaving other assets to adult children, can sometimes reduce the overall tax.
Keeping nominations current. Review nominations after any major life event, such as marriage, separation, a new child or a death in the family.
Frequently asked questions
Does my Will cover my superannuation in Australia?
No. Super is held by your fund’s trustee and is only dealt with by your Will if it’s paid to your estate. Use a binding death benefit nomination, or a reversionary pension, to control where it goes.
Do adult children pay tax on inherited super?
Usually yes, unless they were financially dependent on you. The taxable component is generally taxed at up to 15% plus the Medicare levy, or more if it includes an untaxed element. The tax-free component is not taxed.
How long does a binding death benefit nomination last?
In many funds, a binding nomination lapses after three years unless you renew it. Some funds, and many SMSFs, allow non-lapsing nominations. Check with your fund, or your SMSF trust deed.
Check your super is going where you want
Wealthy families treat their super nominations as carefully as their Will. A five-minute check of your fund’s nomination, and a conversation about the tax your children might pay, can save your family a great deal later.
At TaxAssist Accountants Dee Why, we help Northern Beaches families and SMSF trustees review death benefit nominations, reversionary pensions and recontribution strategies. Call us on (02) 9045 1511 or email [email protected] to book a review.
This article contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances. It is not legal or financial product advice. Please speak with a qualified adviser before making decisions about your super or estate plan.
With BAS season in full swing, scammers are sending emails pretending to be from the ATO. Recent versions talk about a “payment update” or an “income statement review” and try to get you to click a link or open an attachment, which can install remote-access software on your computer.
How to spot them
The ATO says it will never send you an unsolicited email with a link or attachment, or ask you to log in to myGov through a link in an email or text.
What to do
Don’t click links or open attachments. Go straight to ato.gov.au or my.gov.au yourself.
If you’ve already clicked or installed something, disconnect the device from the internet and contact your IT support.
Forward suspicious emails to [email protected], or call the ATO scam line on 1800 008 540.
Not sure if a message about your tax is real? Call us. We’re always happy to check.
Please share this with your team, especially anyone who handles your accounts inbox. Contact our Dee Why team if you’re unsure about anything you’ve received.
The switch-off had been planned for 1 December, which would have given many businesses only weeks to rethink how they pay their BAS and tax bills. The Government is covering the card surcharges during the extension, but there’s no promise that cards will still be accepted directly after June next year.
Our tip: use the extra time to plan
If you lean on a card to smooth cash flow at BAS time, now is a good moment to look at the alternatives:
setting up BPAY, direct debit or bank transfer for ATO payments
a separate tax savings account you top up each month
an ATO payment plan or other finance options if cash flow is tight.
It’s been just over three months since Payday Super began on 1 July 2026. For most employers, super guarantee now has to reach each employee’s fund within seven business days of payday. Paying at the end of the quarter no longer cuts it.
The first real test lands on 28 October 2026.
Which ATO risk group are you in?
Under the ATO’s first-year compliance approach, PCG 2026/1, employers are broadly sorted into three groups:
Low risk: you pay with each pay run and fix any late payments promptly.
Medium risk: you’re still paying quarterly or catching up, but every July–September shortfall is cleared within 28 days of quarter end.
High risk: any September-quarter shortfall is still outstanding after 28 October. These employers are first in line for ATO review.
28 October is also the standard due date for the July–September quarterly BAS, so it’s a busy fortnight.
Three things worth doing now
Reconcile July–September payroll against what your clearing house and funds actually received.
Chase any rejected or misallocated contributions.
Check that your payroll software and bank timing can reliably meet the seven-business-day window.
