How much money do you need to start a family trust?
Mia Ramsey
Published Mar 29, 2026
Family trust cost between $100-$700 to set up (depending who you get to do it and which state you live in – NSW charge a $500 fee whereas most states like QLD charge nothing, see here for details). When setting up a family trust, either get your solicitor to fix you up or use cheaper online legal services.
Is it worth starting a family trust?
Family trusts can be beneficial for protecting vulnerable beneficiaries who may make unwise spending decisions if they controlled assets in their own name. A spendthrift child, or a child with a gambling addiction can have access to income but no access to a large capital sum that could be quickly spent.
How do I set up a family trust for my business?
In terms of establishing a family discretionary trust there are 7 steps involved:
- Select A Trustee – the trustee can be one or more individuals or a private (i.e. proprietary limited) company specifically set up to act as trustee.
- Prepare Family/Discretionary Trust Deed.
- Settle the Trust.
- Trustee(s) Sign the Trust Deed.
Can a family trust own shares?
Can a trust be a shareholder? A trust cannot own shares in a company because the law says a trust is not a separate legal person. For example, the ‘John Smith Family Trust’ cannot own shares or any other property.
Like any type of legal documentation, setting up a family trust does cost money. In fact, the initial start up cost can be about $2,500 and then the same amount again annually in maintenance-type fees.
Can I put my salary into a family trust?
The high-income individual directs their earnings into a trust. These can’t be wage and salary earnings, so they are generally business or investment income. The trustee will generally make payments to those beneficiaries with the lowest incomes, who will pay the least tax.
What can a trust do for a family business?
Family Business held through Trusts, assist families in structuring their businesses in a way that ensures business continuity and preservation along the generations, in accordance with the wishes of the founders of the relevant business. Highlights of what a Trust can achieve when holding a Family Business:
What are the different types of family trusts?
A trust that has individuals acting as trustees exposes the trustees (the individual, or individuals) to same levels of business risk as a sole trader. Broadly speaking there are two common types of trusts that you will encounter when making your business structuring decision: Fixed Trusts and Discretionary Trusts.
When does a family business trust become irrevocable?
It is then possible for the business owner to transfer his or her business at death, when the trust becomes irrevocable. For a typical two-spouse family, usually the family trust will become partly irrevocable and partly revocable after the first death.
When does trust a become part of the family group?
The FTE specifies the same individual named in the FTE of Trust A resulting in Trust B becoming part of the specified individual’s family group. As Trust B has a FTE in force from 1 July 2013, it is treated as having been a member of the family group in relation to the $50,000 distribution made by the trustee of Trust A in the 2014–15 income year.
