Estate and trustee services

The philanthropic services offered by Australian Executor Trustees help your clients establish a charitable giving program, either during their lifetime or as part of their legacy:

• The AET private ancillary fund structure is created during your client’s lifetime and continues in perpetuity.
• The AET Foundation is a public ancillary fund that can be used for clients who want to set up a donor-advised account.
• A testamentary charitable trust which is established within your client’s Will, commences on their death and allows their giving to continue after they have gone.
• Leaving a bequest or gift to charity through their Will.

AET offers a range of trust structures that can be tailored to suit your client’s individual needs.

These structures include:

• compensation trusts for managing and protecting a personal injury payment.
• testamentary discretionary trusts that are created within, and by, a Will and do not take effect until after the Will-maker dies
• family trusts (living or inter vivos trusts) that are created by a deed and commence during a client’s lifetime –  AET don’t prepare these in-house but can facilitate their preparation.
• testamentary life interest trusts
• education trusts for children or grandchildren
• trustee services for people with an intellectual disability
• trustee services for Aboriginal communities.

AET’s estate planning lawyers will work in partnership with you to tailor estate plans to your clients’ individual circumstances – to make sure their wealth is managed and distributed in line with their wishes and in the most tax‑effective way.

Our unbundled or partnership approach means you continue to manage the relationship with your clients – we simply provide you with specialist estate planning advice.

Depending on a client’s circumstances, an estate plan may incorporate provisions for:

• nominating someone to act on their behalf if they become unable to manage their own affairs – a financial or medical power of attorney or an advance care directive.
• creating trusts or other structures for tax purposes or to protect significant assets
• specifying arrangements for the smooth transfer of business interests
• ensuring structures they control, such as a family trust, family companies or superannuation funds, pass to the control of people they choose and trust
• protecting and providing for their loved ones with a disability or special needs, including young children
• protecting their children’s inheritance from claims by creditors or claims resulting from any future relationship breakdowns
• a charitable giving program, whether it is a one-off donation, charitable trust or foundation such as a private ancillary fund.

You can engage AET to ensure your client’s estates are administered in line with the wishes of the deceased.

AET's highly experienced team can deal with third parties (such as government departments, courts, banks, share registries, insurance companies, lawyers and accountants), providing you and your clients with personalised, efficient and professional service.

If you have clients who want the investment flexibility of an SMSF but not the paperwork or trustee responsibilities, AET’s self-managed super solutions may help:

• A comprehensive SMSF establishment and administration service – the AET SMSF
• An end-to-end SMSF solution with a professional trustee – the AET Small APRA fund
• SMSF insurance