Tax Training – 10/01/2025 – Adrian Cartland: Trust Resettlements – EM McPherson Settlement

Re EM McPherson Settlement was an application to vary the terms of a family trust, seeking approval of the Court on behalf of beneficiaries who were unable to consent. The application concerned:

Extension of vesting date and introduction of statutory perpetuity period
Enlargement of class of beneficiaries to include corporations and trusts in which existing beneficiaries have an interest
Amendments to avoid adverse taxation outcomes
Adding a general power of amendment to the trust
Whether there would be a resettlement of the trust

The Court analysed whether there had been a resettlement by examining whether there had been a destruction in the substratum of the trust. This is a method of analysis that does not seem the best legal method to analyse a resettlement, and so we will focus on critically considering the proper trust law tests for what constitutes a resettlement.

Please see below link to case materials which is assumed reading in order to participate in the discussion:

RE EM McPherson Settlement [2024] VSC 744