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If yes, please list their Full Name(s) and Date of Birth.
If yes, please list their Full Name(s), Date of Birth, and relationship (step-child, foster child, etc.).
• What an Executor does: The executor is responsible for carrying out the directions in your Will. This includes:
• Why it matters: The role can be complex, time-consuming, and may require financial and legal knowledge. Executors may also become the point of contact for beneficiaries, which can be stressful in family disputes.
• Who to choose: Someone trustworthy, organised, and impartial. Some people appoint a professional (lawyer or trustee company) if family dynamics are difficult or estates are complex.
Please appoint a Primary, Backup, and optional Further Backup.
The phrases ‘testamentary trustʼ, ‘testamentary discretionary trustʼ, TT, TDT…. are all just ‘lawyer speakʼ for a trust set up in a will that starts when the willmaker dies.
They are very similar to a family trust (more technically known as a discretionary trust) but a testamentary trust is established by a personʼs will and remains dormant, ready to start when a person dies.
Trusts work by separating control of the assets held in the trust from the benefit. The person who has control of the trust assets is the Trustee.
The Trustee is the legal holder of the assets and is responsible for the day to day management of the trust and the due administration of the trust.
An effective testamentary trust should have many people who can potentially benefit from the assets in the trust (the technical term for these people are Beneficiaries) and each beneficiaryʼs entitlement should be at the complete discretion of the Trustee.
This discretionary nature of the trust is what makes the trust so powerful for asset protection.
Because none of the beneficiaries own the trust assets and their only right is to be considered by the trustee, it is very difficult for someone to argue that the assets of the trust belong to any one of the beneficiaries if the trustee has given real and genuine consideration to the needs and circumstances of each beneficiary.
A trustee can also be one of the beneficiaries of the trust, and if that is the case, then the trust assets will ‘look and feelʼ more like that personʼs assets because they are in control and can choose themselves or their family members to benefit from the trust.
• What the trustee does: A trustee manages the ongoing Testamentary trust.
• Responsibilities: Trustees must act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, manage investments, and keep proper records. They may need to make decisions about how and when money is distributed.
• Who to choose: A financially competent and reliable person, often separate from the executor, or a professional trustee if the trust will be long-term or high-value.
Please nominate Primary, Backup, and optional Further Backup.
The Appointor is the person who has the power to remove and replace the trustee of your testamentary trust. While the trustee manages the trust’s assets and distributions, the Appointor ensures that the trustee remains accountable and can be changed if circumstances require.
Why it matters: The Appointor role provides an important safeguard. If a trustee becomes unsuitable, the Appointor can step in and appoint someone else.
Who to choose: Often a trusted family member, close friend, or professional adviser. It should be someone reliable, impartial, and aligned with your wishes.
Your Will establishes a testamentary trust for the benefit of your family. Your trust will include three classes of potential beneficiaries, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. This layered structure is a standard feature of many testamentary trusts. It is designed to give your trustees flexibility to deal with unexpected circumstances and to support the trust operating effectively in a range of situations.
The trustee has broad discretion each year to decide whether to distribute income or capital, to whom, and in what proportions, or whether to accumulate it within the trust. The Will also states that distributions to Secondary or Tertiary Beneficiaries should not ordinarily be made unless they are consistent with the best interests of your spouse and children, who remain the central focus of the trust. The trustee, however, retains full discretion under the trust terms.
This structure means your spouse and children are always at the centre of the trust, while the wider classes provide flexibility and a safeguard so the trust can adapt to different family or financial circumstances.
In the unlikely event that neither your spouse nor any of your children survive you, your assets will not pass into a testamentary trust. Instead, they will be divided among the substitute beneficiaries you nominate here. Substitute beneficiaries may include other family members, close friends, or charitable organisations.
You can choose how their entitlements are allocated — either in equal shares or by specifying percentages.
You will also need to decide what happens if a substitute beneficiary does not survive you. This is called a “giftover provision.” You can choose whether their share should pass to their children (gift over) or whether it should be returned to the asset pool and divided among the remaining substitute beneficiaries.
This section ensures that your estate is distributed according to your wishes even in the rare circumstance that your immediate family does not survive you.
If a substitute beneficiary does not survive you, should their share pass to their children (giftover) or go back into your asset pool?
By default, your Will gives your Executor broad authority to manage your digital assets and accounts. This includes email, social media, cloud storage, online subscriptions, cryptocurrency wallets, and any business-related accounts. Your Executor may access, close, preserve, transfer, or continue operating these accounts as needed, and may use your passwords or credentials to do so. These powers also extend to new types of digital assets as technology develops.
Why this matters:
The testamentary trust in your Will is designed to provide flexibility and asset protection for your spouse and children. To avoid unnecessary land tax or stamp duty surcharges, the trust terms exclude “foreign persons” (as defined under Australian tax law) from being beneficiaries. This exclusion only applies to beneficiaries of the trust itself. It does not affect substitute beneficiaries who would receive an outright gift if no spouse or children survive you.
(You may appoint more than one attorney if you wish — for example, your spouse and another trusted person. If appointing more than one, please list each name and address.)
This section only applies if you appoint more than one Attorney or more than one backup Attorney.
“Jointly” means all Attorneys must agree on every decision.
“Jointly & Severally” gives each Attorney full authority to act alone.
If appointing more than one attorney, how should they act?
If your attorney/s vacates office, you have the option to nominate someone to take their place.
You can choose more than one substitute attorney.
Your attorney(s) will have the authority conferred by Part 2 of the Powers of Attorney Act 2003 to do anything on your behalf you may lawfully authorise an attorney to do.
You may choose to allow your attorney to use your money and assets to pay for those things listed here in (a)-(c).
This power of attorney operates:
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