Drafting Complex Wills and Testamentary Trusts – 5 program on demand webinar series

Testamentary Capacity Will Drafting

While the test for determining testamentary capacity is well-settled, determining capacity in practice can be tricky. This session provides a practical examination of the key capacity issues succession lawyers face when preparing wills for their clients, including:

• The legal test for testamentary capacity
• Interplay between capacity and undue influence and coercion
• Best practice guidance on:
  • taking instructions
  • drafting language
  • taking notes
  • managing family members
• The role of medical advice and reports when in doubt
• Engaging an assessor
• When should you refuse to make the will?
• Lessons from recent cases

Gifts and Family Loans: Key Drafting Imperatives

Careful will drafting requires a succession lawyer to properly understand the gifts, liabilities and loans of a testator in order to safely secure a client’s intended plan of distribution. This session examines the key drafting essentials for dealing with gifts and loans under the will, including:

• Determining the assets of the estate
• Impact of liabilities and debts on particular gifts
• Risks associated with specific gifts and the rule of ademption
• Treatment of gifts to creditors
• When is an advance to a beneficiary a loan?
• Treatment of loans in a will
• Case studies

Drafting Testamentary Trusts

Testamentary trusts are becoming more common in succession planning, and are a valuable tool for many clients wanting to protect against certain issues. However, in order to provide the best outcome for clients, succession lawyers need to properly understand their clients’ circumstances, and then ensure the terms of the trust adequately reflect their circumstances. This session will show you how, including:

• Tips and tricks for drafting key clauses, including:
  • determining class of beneficiaries
  • vesting period
  • power to distribute income and capital
  • default beneficiaries
  • variation powers
  • powers and veto rights of appointors / guardians
• Spotlight on specific trustee powers
• Case study scenarios examining drafting strategies for complex family arrangements:
  • relationship breakdown and family law
  • blended families
  • bankruptcy

Tax Aspects of Testamentary Trusts

Preparing testamentary trusts require more than careful drafting; they also require a sophisticated understanding of the numerous tax implications. This session examines the tax implications of creating testamentary trusts and how this may impact your drafting. It covers:

• Understanding the tax advantages of testamentary trusts
• Special tax rates for categories of beneficiaries
• Tax characteristics of different types of asset classes in the testamentary trust
• Dealing with capital gains and franked dividends in the hands of beneficiaries
• Buying and selling assets in the trust – CGT consequences
• Distributing capital and assets from testamentary trusts to beneficiaries – CGT consequences
• Case studies

Special Disability Trusts: Drafting for Those Who Need Extra Protection

Special disability trusts (SDTs) are a helpful succession planning tool often used by parents of a child with a disability. They have the benefit of tax concessions, but they can be difficult to set up. This session looks at the key drafting issues to consider when establishing SDTs, including:

• Key characteristics of SDTs from a drafting perspective
• Compulsory clauses that must be included
• Establishing one principal beneficiary
• Drafting tips to ensure reasonable care and accommodation needs are met
• Drafting the SDT trustee – who, how many and responsibilities
• Drafting to specify what should happen to any property remaining in the trust post-death of the beneficiary