Hi,
Our mum wants to gift some money to the kids and grandchildren. We need a second opinion and whether she or we have to help her (she’s in her late 70’s) set up a trust account and is there anything else we need to know?

Thanks

Hi Jane,

Gifting money is OK if done the right way. The main issue will be down the track - making sure the family knows/understands what was done at this time.

There may be an impact to your mother if receiving an age pension, as there are limits to the gifting of funds/assets that are included in her assets tests. If this is not of concern - great!

Assuming your mother is of sound mind, it may be prudent to have your sit with her solicitor to review and maybe update her will. This may be more prudent than setting up a trust (however if a trust is worthwhile, they can suggest and sort this out). For this purpose, it may also be prudent to liaise with your accountant and get a referral to a solicitor that deals with these scenarios (tax, pension and family issues).

Sorry, rarely a straight forward answer to these types of questions.

Todd.