Trust Deeds, Reviews, and Amendments

A trust deed is the document that creates a trust. It sets out who the trustee is, who the beneficiaries are, what the trust's purposes are, and what powers the trustee has. Every trust runs on its deed - it's the operating manual.

When the deed doesn't let you do what you need: change appointor, extend vesting date, add or remove beneficiaries, update trustee powers, or respond to changes in tax law. Most deeds older than 10 years benefit from a review.

The vesting date is the date the trust must wind up. If your deed has an approaching vesting date (often 80 years from creation), you may need to extend it - or force distributions you don't want. We extend vesting dates as part of amendments where permitted.

Not always. The deed itself must include a power of variation, and that power has limits. Sometimes amendments are outside power - which means we need to either work within what's allowed or create a new trust and transfer assets. Sam identifies this in the review.

Trust deed work is quoted on a case-by-case basis because it varies widely by what's needed - a simple review might be a modest fixed fee, while a complex variation or new deed is priced to reflect the drafting. You'll receive a fixed-fee proposal before any work begins.

In South Australia, some amendments attract stamp duty (especially where assets change hands). Sam assesses whether stamping is required and handles it with Revenue SA.