Asset Protection & Structuring

Proactively, while you are solvent and before any claim arises. This is the critical point: transfers made to defeat known creditors can be unwound by a trustee in bankruptcy or a liquidator, in some cases regardless of how long ago they occurred. Protection built early, for genuine purposes, is what holds up under Australian law.

A company provides a degree of separation between business and personal assets, but it is not absolute. Directors remain personally exposed through personal guarantees, insolvent trading, and Director Penalty Notices for unpaid PAYG, superannuation, and GST. Structuring addresses the gaps a company alone leaves open.

They separate the legal ownership of assets from the people and entities most exposed to risk. Common approaches include holding valuable assets in a family trust or a holding company, and keeping intellectual property and property out of the entity that carries day-to-day trading risk.

Often, yes. Tax rollovers such as the small business restructure rollover and various capital gains tax rollovers can allow eligible businesses to restructure without an immediate tax liability. It must be done carefully, since restructuring can otherwise trigger capital gains tax, stamp duty, and Division 7A consequences, which is exactly what we manage.

No. We provide structuring, tax, and entity advice and establish the entities involved. For the legal elements, such as trust deeds and agreements, we work alongside your legal advisers, or introduce you to trusted professionals from our network.

One of the biggest mistakes we see is valuable investment assets being held within trading entities. While every situation differs, separating long-term assets from operating businesses is often a key asset protection principle.

We recommend reviewing your structure whenever your business grows significantly, acquires new assets, expands internationally, admits new owners or prepares for succession or sale.