Bartley Partners offer specialist accounting services in Adelaide in order to facilitate the creation of unit trusts.
Unit Trusts are often used when people want the flexibility of a trust structure without the discretional element relating to the split of income and expenses. A Unit Trust has the ability to buy and sell units in the business much like a company does with its shares. These units usually have fixed annual entitlements to the income and capital of the trust.
The diagram to the right is an example of a unit trust in action. In this example we have two people, Kevin & Julia, who decide to work together to invest in a property that neither of them can afford alone. However, despite needing to invest together they don’t entirely trust each other and on that basis come to their accountant and ask how best to structure the deal.
As the diagram shows, the overall investment is held in a Unit Trust with one unit each entitling them to equal portions of the capital and income of the trust. The Trustee company running the Unit Trust is the KG Corporate Trustee Pty Ltd, which can be either jointly owned and managed, or given to a third party such as an accountant or lawyer to manage on their behalf.
Once the income or capital filters down to the separate Discretionary Trusts, it can then be split between family members and other entities at the discretion of the corporate trustee companies underneath. By putting together the freedom of discretionary trusts to split the income along with the certainty of a Unit Trust to hold the investment, you can create a very powerful investment model.
Everyone’s needs differ with regard to the establishment and management of Unit Trusts, so Bartley Partners works with Adelaide’s top legal professionals to ensure your trust is structured so that it minimises taxation, provides for asset protection and factors in your estate planning needs.
Let Bartley Partners help you explore your options.
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