To put it simply, a trust is a relationship where a person (settlor) can entrust another person (trustee) to hold onto the property and deal with it for the benefit of another person or group of people (beneficiary). For example, a grandparent may wish to put their investment property in trust for the benefit of his or her grandchildren. The grandparent then appoints an uncle or auntie as a trustee who now has the care of the investment property. It will be the uncle or auntie’s duty to distribute any rental income from the investment property to the grandchildren

Trusts are useful structures to control the flow of income from a particular property or business to the beneficiaries. By controlling the flow of income each beneficiary can control their own financial planning individually with tax being payable on an individual basis. Certain trust deeds can also be drafted to become effective asset protection structures. 

Unit Trusts

Unit trusts is one of the major forms of trusts. In this structure, beneficiaries subscribe to units of a trust, a bit like how shareholders have shares in a company. The share of the income of the trust property distributed will depend on how many units a beneficiary has under the trust.

There may be a different class of unit holders similar to how there are a different class of shareholders. For example, if the trust property is an investment property, a certain beneficiary may acquire rental income only, while another beneficiary will acquire capital gain if the investment property is sold. But unlike a company, the trust itself does not incur tax. The beneficiaries who obtain a benefit will incur the tax liability individually. 

Discretionary Trusts

The other major form of trusts is known as discretionary trusts. Discretionary trusts are flexible structures for families. Compared to unit trusts where the beneficiaries are entitled to the income of the trust property, the trustee can decide who to distribute the income to which beneficiary.

The beneficiaries can only be considered by the trustee and are not entitled to demand a share of the income. Discretionary trusts are useful for directing the flow of income to different beneficiaries. This has the benefit of income splitting so that the family members can obtain the optimum tax positions every year. a new lease at the end of the first term. Because of this, it will be almost impossible to sell a business without a lease. It’s therefore a smart move to negotiate an option for a new lease. 

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Caroline Van

Caroline is a force to be reckoned with. She is the pocket rocket lawyer that gets things done…at ridiculous speed. When others cower and fear the word ‘urgent’ or ‘deadline’, Caroline is unfazed. She does not blink, she does not sleep, and she is the unstoppable force that keeps going until it’s done.

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Barry Lazarus

CEO & Notary Public

barry@lazaruslegal.com.au 

We’d be lying if we told you that this bloke isn’t the big honcho of our team, but his name is a dead give-away. The founder of Lazarus Legal, Barry is an old school, tough as nails lawyer. They don’t forge litigators like this anymore.

With decades of experience in both Australia and South Africa, his wisdom is as renowned as his name. Back in the days when Schwarzenegger and Van Damme were kicking ass on VHS, Barry was kicking ass in the courtroom. And after all these years, he still has a reputation for refusing to back down.Barry is definitely the badass you’d want in a fight – in court or otherwise. But really, he’s a big softie. Just don’t let him know you know that (although he probably won’t read this anyway – navigating the Internet is not his strong point).

Aside from putting other lawyers in their place, taking long walks on the beach and spending time with his family, Barry enjoys seeing others succeed. Not only is Barry a staunch and unmoving litigator, he has sharp business and commercial acumen having started up ventures from scratch and growing them into full-blown franchises – from real estate to creating ice cream, to making pasta. With his experience on both sides of the commercial and legal equation, you want this guy to be on your side, whether you’re the next Zuckerberg realising your genius, or the next Zuckerberg taking on your opponents in court.

When Barry is not busy lawyering about, he is a part-time lawn bowler and a wannabe comedian, but never took both as a day job, because let’s face it, he’s a lot better at his day job.

If someone ever threatens you to lawyer up…relax, call Barry and he’ll handle the rest. 

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Mark Lazarus Director

Mark Lazarus

Director

mark@lazaruslegal.com.au 

The visionary behind the business and the fresh blood of the Lazarus Legal team, Mark (or Laz as he is often known) owes much of his success to his past stories and experiences. And he’s made it his personal goal to bring that wisdom and formula to the firm.

He’s a bit of jet setter, splitting his time between Australia and the UK, maximising every hour of his professional life. He thrives on this adrenalin. It allowed him to work in private practice in Sydney, act for a host of famous celebrities in London, do a two year stint as a NSW barrister (and not the pretentious coffee type in the Melbourne laneways) and more recently did a gig as the Legal Director covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa for one of the world’s coolest fast-moving consumer good brands!  

As an Aussie and UK lawyer and former barrister, Mark not only has the gift of the gab but he’ll walk the walk to prove it too. He likes to think he’s a bit like Harvey Specter or Michael Corleone, the main difference is you can actually retain him as your lawyer and consigliere. He’ll tell you how it really is and will take on any challenge head on. Although litigation and court advocacy comes naturally to him, commercial and IP is what gets his blood pumping! 

When Mark is not out there doing his thing, you will probably catch him chilling at home with his family, on the sidelines of the soccer (football) pitch cheering on his two boys, crawling through mud obstacles, or training hard at the gym. Passion and commitment is what drives Mark to succeed, along with his burning desire to disrupt the legal profession by finding new ways to change the game.

He has sights on the future. So if you’re breaking new ground, ahead of the times, and on the verge of something big, but you need someone who’s got your back and who can give you straight up advice, this is the guy you will want on speed dial.

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