In this final episode of our series on the family law protection of discretionary trusts and testamentary trusts, I tie everything together.

We’ve worked through the key cases. Now it’s time to connect the dots.

In this episode, I explain how the principles from those decisions underpin the way we think about testamentary trusts in practice. From our decision trees, to coding strategy, through to the drafting embedded in our precedents.

Because understanding the cases is one thing. Translating them into practical, repeatable systems that support consistent outcomes is another.

Continuing our series on discretionary trusts and family law, in this fifth instalment, I cover the decisions of Rigby & Kingston (No. 4) and Caldwell & Caldwell.

These cases look specifically at the family court's treatment of family trusts and TTs which form part of high net worth family groups established by the broader family, where control is shared amongst family members as part of an intergenerational wealth transfer strategy.

Read the decisions here:

Rigby & Kingston (No. 4) [2021] FamCA 501
Caldwell & Caldwell [2025] FedCFamC1F 506

Continuing our series on discretionary trusts and family law, I cover the decisions of Woodcock & Woodcock (No 2) and Aarons & Aarons.

Woodcock & Woodcock has the potential to shake up the asset protection of discretionary trusts, expanding the meaning of 'property' to include beneficiary's rights to due consideration and administration.

Read the decisions here:

Woodcock & Woodcock (No 2) FedCFamC1F 173
Aarons & Aarons (No 4) [2022] FedCFamC1F 502

Continuing our series on discretionary trusts and family law, in this fourth episode, I cover the decisions of Barrett & Winnie, Frederic & Brisset, and Mansfield & Mansfield.

These cases look specifically at the family court's treatment of discretionary trusts established by the broader family, where control is shared amongst the family members.

Read the decisions here:

In this third instalment of our series on discretionary trusts and family law, I discuss the decisions of Bernard & Bernard, Coley v Danae, and Dovgan & Dovgan

These cases look at how testamentary trusts will be treated by the family courts, the effectiveness of joint controllers, and whether trusts controlled by a Respondent's parents can be drawn into their family law proceedings as property of the parties.

Read the decisions here:

In this second episode of our series on discretionary trusts and family law, I explore the decisions of Pittman & Pittman, Morton & Morton and Harris & Harris.

If Kennon v Spry set the framework, these cases demonstrate how that framework is applied by the courts.

Read the decisions here:

You’ve had the meeting. They agreed to the testamentary trust.

Then the draft will lands in their inbox… and suddenly they've got cold feet and want to go back to a basic will.

There's nothing worse!

In this episode, I unpack why clients might backflip at draft stage, and how to future proof your firm so you can reduce the second guessing.

Check out the resources mentioned in this episode:

In this episode I'm joined by special guest, Nathan Fradley FChFP, as he takes us through the ins and outs of Granny Flat Arrangements including:

If you’re an estate planning law firm owner wondering what on earth they need to do to comply with the expanded AML/CTF Rules… then this episode is for you!

Join our special guest Tracey Knight from Easy AML, for a practical, plain-English walkthrough of how the expanded AML/CTF regime applies to common estate planning activities with clear examples, compliance timelines, and guidance on what professionals need to do to be ready.

If you’re not ready for the AML rules – this episode is a must listen!

Watch the full presentation here.

For many clients, discretionary trusts are about one thing: protection. And when relationships break down, the question becomes: how protected are those assets, really?

In this this first episode in our new series on discretionary trusts and family law, I unpack the landmark High Court decision of Kennon v Spry. It’s the authority cited in virtually every major family law decision involving discretionary trusts since 2008.

This episode lays the groundwork for everything that follows in the series.

You can read the judgment here.