There are many different types of trust including those created by wills (testamentary trusts) or by the operation of law, but for the purpose of this article, we are referring to the usual types of trust structures that accountants and lawyers prepare for their clients to operate businesses, own assets and the like, including:

Trusts are often used to ensure that the person or entity with the legal ownership of assets is different to the persons or entities that enjoy the benefit of those assets.

The Trust Deed is a document that governs the terms of the Trust and sets out the rights and obligations of the Trustee, the Appointor and the Beneficiaries.

The Settlor is often a person who has started the Trust (often an accountant or lawyer that obtained or drafted the Trust Deed at the request of a client) by paying a nominal amount such as $10 to the Trustee. This amount is known as the ‘settled sum’. The Trust Fund is then added to over time.

The Trustee of a Trust is responsible for administering the Trust and managing its assets for the benefit of the Beneficiaries. The Trust can only operate through its Trustee (one or more people or a company)

There are many duties that affect how Trustees can fulfill their role. Many of them are set out in the Trust Deed but there are also legislative provisions that apply, such as those set out in the Trustee Act.

Some of the duties include keeping accurate records, acting in a prudent manner as regards decisions, not mixing Trust assets with the Trustee’s own assets (which is why a often a company is set up to be the Trustee and do nothing but be the Trustee) and not using trust assets for the trustee’s own benefit. This is often one of the reasons a special purpose trustee company is used.

The Appointor is the person with the power under the Trust Deed to remove a Trustee and appoint a new Trustee. They, therefore, ultimately control the trust.

Usually, changing the Trustee can be effected at any time by the Appointor executing a deed to remove and appoint a Trustee. Often the Trust Deed allows for the change to be effected by a person’s Will.

It is common for the Appointor of a discretionary family trust to be a parent or sibling and is often 2 people (or in the alternative, there is a Primary or First Appointor and a Second or Alternate Appointor that can act if something prevents the First Appointor from acting).

In the types of Trusts we are talking about in this article, the Beneficiaries are those that are ultimately entitled to the benefit of the Trust. For Family/Discretionary Trusts, the Beneficiaries are not stated specifically but rather, for asset protection reasons, they are expressed as a class of potential beneficiaries that the Trustee can choose from (but is not obliged to – the protection arises as there is no specific share they are entitled to – it is in the Trustee’s discretion).

Often, the class of potential beneficiaries is very wide and includes children, grandchildren, grandparents, siblings and other trusts and companies which those people may have an interest in.

In the case of a Unit Trust, the Beneficiaries are the unitholders -the unitholders are entitled to a defined/fixed share of the Trust’s assets and income.

For asset protection and income splitting/tax minimisation reasons, often the units in a Unit Trust are owned by a Discretionary Trust.

Trust law is an extremely complex area and it is important to ensure that you understand your rights and responsibilities in relation to any Trust you are involved with or may have an interest in.