Trust services
Excluding beneficiaries from a discretionary trust.
Broad beneficiary classes cause real problems: foreign surcharge duty and land tax, unwanted family members within the class, and trustee obligations to people you never intended to benefit. A deed of exclusion narrows the class.
Lawyer prepared
Deeds drafted and settled by a lawyer, not a form generator.
Fast turnaround
Standard deeds prepared within one business day of instructions.
Fixed fee, quoted first
Fixed fee quoted first, with any duty payable set out up front.
Compliant documents
Trustee Act, Duties Act and ATO practice considered on every deed.
Why trusts exclude beneficiaries.
The most common driver in Victoria is foreign purchaser additional duty and absentee owner surcharge. A deed that irrevocably excludes foreign persons from benefiting can prevent the surcharge applying to trust land.
Exclusions are also used on relationship breakdown, estrangement, or to tighten a class that was drafted too widely at establishment. We check the variation power, draft the exclusion so it is effective and irrevocable where required, and confirm it does not amount to a resettlement.
Exclusions must generally be in place before the relevant date, before the purchase, or before the land tax assessment date. Retrospective fixes rarely work.
Why it pays to have this done properly.
Surcharge duty and land tax avoided
Excluding foreign beneficiaries before purchase can avoid the foreign purchaser additional duty that would otherwise apply to Victorian land.
Unintended beneficiaries removed
A tighter class reduces the risk of claims and simplifies the trustee's annual distribution decisions.
Effective and durable drafting
Where the revenue office requires the exclusion to be irrevocable, the deed is drafted to satisfy that requirement.
Is this you?.
- The trust is buying Victorian land and the class includes foreign persons
- A land tax absentee owner surcharge assessment has issued
- A family member should no longer be in the class
- Your deed's beneficiary class is drafted extremely broadly
If any of these sound familiar, a short conversation will tell you whether this is the right document, and what it costs, before you commit.
How it works.
- 01
Tell us what you need
Start online or call us. We take short instructions, names, roles, structure and timing, and confirm this is the right document for what you are actually trying to achieve.
- 02
We check the detail
We confirm eligibility, consents, existing documents and any tax or duty consequence before drafting, so nothing is discovered after lodgement.
- 03
We prepare and lodge
We draft the deed of exclusion and the supporting trustee resolution, send it for signing with clear instructions on who signs what and when, and attend to any ASIC, State Revenue Office or ATO lodgement.
- 04
You get a complete file
You receive executed documents, registers and confirmations in a single organised pack, plus a short note on what to keep and what happens next.
Fees.
Fixed fee for the deed of exclusion. Where an SRO objection or exemption application is also needed, that is quoted separately.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Still unsure? Call us on (03) 9008 7224 and speak to a lawyer, not a call centre.
Will excluding foreign persons definitely avoid the surcharge?
Can an exclusion be reversed?
Does an exclusion cause a resettlement?
Related services.
Deed of variation
Amend an existing trust deed without triggering a resettlement.
Learn moreStamp duty: VIC trusts
Duty on Victorian trust deeds, declarations, transfers and surcharges.
Learn moreDiscretionary (family) trust
The standard family trust deed for income splitting and asset protection.
Learn moreReady to get started with exclude beneficiaries: discretionary trust?.
Start online or book a consultation with a CMK Legal commercial lawyer in Richmond, Melbourne.