Not just tax

The problem

As lawyers we know the value of planning for death, but our clients don’t want to do that. Our clients want just want a simple Will.

Personally I have never focused on tax advantages or even financial advantages when it comes to Discretionary Testamentary Trusts, because I think they are valuable for so many other reasons. While I don’t consider myself an expert on Discretionary Testamentary Trusts per se, I did recently run a Webinar on how to talk to the client who is insistent that they just need a “simple Will”. As part of that, at the request of one of the participants, I built out some slides to explain what a trust looks like, in practice. It turns out those slides address a more recent issue of, what if the tax advantages for a DTT were to disappear?

It is important while we grapple with the potential tax for our DTT Wills that we remember why we prefer these structures for our clients, or ourselves. Yes, tax was always a factor, but it is not the only factor. The other factors have not changed, including choosing the controllers (the Trustees and Appointors not just the Beneficiaries), the separate legal entity and the flexibility that this allows for gifts and loans back, or for excluding third party opinions, and the potential for a longer term legacy that isn’t simply paying down debt that would have eventually been paid down anyway.

THE recording and papers

This Webinar where we stepped through talking to clients who want a “simple Will” has already occurred on Wednesday 29 April 2026. You can buy the recording and the papers in the mean time. We talked about a number of things including -

  • why is this not “just death” and what can we do about that?

  • how do we get the client to abandon this “simple Will” idea and seriously consider a discretionary testamentary trust or a more comprehensive Estate Plan?

  • why a shorter document isn’t what they want, they want their beneficiaries to have more information and more choices (through a DTT or a far more robust document than a simple Will)

We worked through one set of slides that try to disavow the clients of these presumptions about simple Wills, and then another set of slides explaining why a DTT may be the answer. You will get a copy of each of these slides in PowerPoint and Canva. The slides you can see in the gallery above are from the second set of slides, explaining the practical reality of a DTT (how it works) but also by necessity highlighting why you want.

This CPD costs $90 and you can get the recording and the past papers using the button below. In keeping with previous CPDs, you will get a $50 discount code if you email a requisition from the Supreme Court in relation to an Estate matter and provide enough information for the requisition to make sense. Email it to janis@janisconsults.com and then I will send you the discount code and a survey for you to complete with further questions.

Buy the past papers
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Have you joined the free Facebook Group?

I run a free Facebook group for NSW Estate Lawyers, we have 450 members and discuss topics like (from this week) -

  • How are you recording a Trust in the online Probate application portal?

  • Requests for a recommendation for a mediator, junior counsel and an accountant

  • A poll asking are you using Advance Care Directives in your practice, if so how often?

  • A discussion about situations where clients are using AI and how others are responding

  • Information about a free event for Advance Care Directives

I haven’t included a link to the group here because if I do, Facebook won’t present you with the questions. If you don’t answer the questions I cannot let you in because I cannot check your name against the solicitor roll. Just go into Facebook, into Groups, and search for “NSW Estate Lawyers”. Answer the questions and I should let you in within 24 hours.