Will with Testamentary trust
created only when both parents pass away

Important information:

This will is suitable for families with younger children who have larger estates that need to be invested on behalf of the children until they are old enough to inherit their share of the estate. The way this Will works is like this:

1. everything goes to the surviving spouse; or
2. if the spouse predeceases the will maker (so no surviving spouse) then everything goes to the testamentary trust to be invested and managed by the nominated trustee for the benefit of the children until they all turn 21, 25, 30, 40 or never (depending upon your selection). When they are all 25 years of age, they then replace the appointor who has the power to remove trustees and appoint any other person (including themselves) as trustee and have control over the trust.

The person you choose to be the trustee of the trust should be someone you can trust and someone who will always have your children’s best interest at heart because they will control the trust for their benefit. A guardian will also be nominated to take care of the children. The guardian does not necessarily have to be the same person as the Trustee. You may decide to choose someone who is more financially savvy to be the trustee of the trust and someone else that you feel will have the time and capacity to look after your children to be the guardian however they will need to work well together.

The testamentary trust only allows the trustee to invest in less risky investments such as property, Australian shares that have paid dividends for at least 5 of the past 10 years, fixed interest deposits etc. The trustee is not permitted to guarantee any loans using the assets of the trust as security and is not allowed to engage in business activity. These limitations are to protect your estate and ensure the Trustee does not invest it in risky investments that may potentially decline value.

Please refer to the wills glossary for common terms used in our wills.