Your client is the settlor of a family trust, one she claims was
intended to be a gift to her children upon the last of the three
children attaining the age of 30 years.
The trustees are your client’s parents; the beneficiaries
are your client’s three minor children and their issue. The
trust has effectively floated the family for more than a
decade.
The parties have separated. The wife maintains that the
trust’s assets are neither hers nor her husband’s, but
belong to the children who are the beneficiaries, and therefore do
not form part of the net family property. The husband, who is the
children’s father, counters that the trust is a sham
that his wife uses to support the family’s lavish lifestyle
whilst shielding the assets from forming part of the net family
property. As a result, he argues, the trust should be considered so
as to increase the equalization payment to him by approximately $10
million.
