Current Trusts Maintenance Documents
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      Upgrade of Discretionary Trust to a LightYear Docs Strategic Discretionary Trust

      About Product

      The LightYear Docs Discretionary Trust is a modern trust that allows streaming, capital distributions and modern trust strategies. Old discretionary trust deeds can cause serious problems for distributions, tax, family law and asset protection.

      With this product you can update an existing discretionary trust to the LightYear Docs Discretionary Trust, a modern trust last updated in September 2020 and allows streaming, capital distributions and modern trust strategies.

      ► $129.00 (inc GST) - OR provided under your unlimited membership

      ► The master document has been signed off by Abbott & Mourly and is congruent with Australian law.

      General Information

      Upgrading an existing discretionary trust deed to a LightYear Docs trust deed is not a resettlement pursuant to ATO ruling TD2021/21.

      Benefits

      • A simple upgrade for an existing discretionary trusts to a modern, strategic discretionary trust
      • Upgrading an existing discretionary trust deed to a LightYear Docs trust deed is not a resettlement pursuant to ATO ruling TD2021/21.
      • Allows income and capital streaming to different beneficiaries
      • Operates for each State

      Frequently Asked Legal Questions

      What is required to upgrade an existing Discretionary Trust Deed?

      You will need a copy of the deed and look for the upgrade or variation clause.  This will provide whether the trustee or the trustee and the appointor must sign to authorise the deed.

      What lawyers sign off on the LightYear Docs?

      All LightYear documents are prepared and signed off by Abbott & Mourly from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

      Are the LightYear Docs documents reviewed regularly?

      All LightYear Docs documents form part of the LightYear Docs internal review process. We review all documents at least annually or when required to do so due to changes in legislation. Further details of this process and a review schedule is include on this website.

      How long does this document take to assemble?

      Depending on the complexity of the data, this document should take approximately 5-10 secs to assemble. If you experience timing outside of this please contact Support via the Surge app, alternatively please read this article for troubleshooting tips https://info.lightyeardocs.com.au/supportcentre/troubleshooting-longer-assembly-times-timeouts .

      Do you have a data capture form I can use?

      Is this document a legal document?

      All master documents have been signed off by Abbott & Mourly lawyers. Tony Anamourlis of Abbott & Mourly advises that “at no time, due to inbuilt legal protection and security measures can a user change or amend a document on the LightYear Docs platform that has been signed off by a practicing solicitor. To do so would result in the user drafting a document of a legal nature and engaging in the provision of legal services. In addition, it would be a breach of copyright. In our opinion when completing the form fields through the LightYear Docs platform, users and their employees are merely carrying out an administrative task which is not the provision of legal advice.”

      However in some complex areas such as the insertion of a varied range of client instructions into a Will or other such documents the user must be mindful of the extent to which a document is being drafted by the user rather than merely the administrative task of completing a form where the relevant fields are inserted into the reviewed and signed  legal document provided by Abbott & Mourly.

      The above advice is born out of numerous cases dating back to Re Sanderson, Ex parte Law Institute of Victoria [1927] VLR 394, 397 where the Court held:

      “if a person does a thing usually done by a solicitor, and does it in such a way as to lead to the reasonable inference that he is a solicitor – if he combines professing to be a solicitor with action usually taken by a solicitor – I think he then does act as a solicitor.”

      Likewise in ACCC v Murray (2002) 121 FCR 428, 448 where Murray was building a franchise business that involved the legal writing and drafting of Wills from scratch based on the client’s personal circumstances.  The Court held that this process was legal work.

      Is the document easy to read?

      All LightYear Docs products are written in plain English and assessed for readability. If at any time you come across any errors, please contact support@lightyeardocs.com.au.

      Can I get a sample of this document?

      Yes, please email support@lightyeardocs.com.au to request a sample document for you to review.

      Stamping and Lodgment of Trusts

      The fees and stamping requirements for establishing a trust deed vary throughout Australia, and the duty payable also varies depending on the type of property that is held by the trust. Please contact our partners at Eventum Optimum (EO) on info@eventumoptimum.com.au for more information on when stamping is required (in what jurisdiction) and the fees/duties payable. EO are able to provide this service to you.