What is the name of the Trust?

You are free to choose a suitable name for your Unit Trust. The name should be appropriate in terms of reflecting the nature of the Unit Trust's business (if any), its purpose or the identity of the trustee.

You should avoid choosing names that suggest an inappropriate connection with or endorsement by persons, organisations or governments with which you are not involved.

Cleardocs can not give you any advice about this. The summary here is information only. It is provided by Maddocks.

Which jurisdiction's laws apply to the Trust Deed?

When choosing which jurisdiction applies to the Unit Trust Deed, your answer will have the effect of an agreement between the Trustee and Unit Holders defining the laws of which state will apply to the Unit Trust Deed. You should choose the state in which the Unit Trust Deed is executed.

Other relevant considerations may be the location of the Unit Trust's business (if any) or its Trustee.

If this question becomes relevant in the future, the parties' intention will not be determinative of the issue of jurisdiction but it may be relevant.

Cleardocs can not give you any advice about this. The summary here is information only. It is provided by Maddocks.

What is the price for ordinary units? (Unit Trusts - non-fixed Only)

Any income units are automatically issued at a set price of $1.00 each.

Therefore, you need to set the issue price only for ordinary units in the Trust.

Are any of the units to be held jointly by more than one unitholder?

Unit-holders may jointly hold units in the Unit Trust. This means that up to 3 persons may jointly own a unit rather than each having to purchase 1 unit. You should note, however, that there are implications for the unit-holders if they choose to hold a unit jointly. For instance, at law, if there are 3 joint holders of a unit they do not each hold a separate interest in 1/3rd of that unit. One consequence of this is that, if 1 joint holder dies, the remaining 2 joint holders obtain the whole legal interest in the unit.

Cleardocs can not give you any advice about this. The summary here is information only. It is provided by Maddocks.

Is this unit holding applying for ordinary units, income units, or both? (Unit Trusts - non-fixed Only)

You don't need to issue income units at the time the Trust is set up. The deed allows the Trustee to issue them later. Also, income unit holders do not need to sign the deed: so you can issue income units at the start without those unit holders being a party to the deed.

However, at the time the income units are issued, the income unit holders must pay the Trustee $1.00 for each income unit they are issued.

Cleardocs can not give you any advice about this. The summary here is information only. It is provided by Maddocks.

How many trustees will there be?

You may have up to three people as trustee or else one company as trustee. Although the law allows other structures, any other structure is likely to complicate administration of the trust.

If you would like any other combination to be the trustees, then you should consider using a company as the trustee. That way you can have the company controlled (through directorships and shareholdings) by the people you wish to be the trustees. This works more efficiently because the rules about how the company is to make decisions are set out in the company's constitution and in the law.

You can set up the company through Cleardocs — and register the company with ASIC electronically. The whole process takes only 20 minutes or so — and you get the ACN instantly. A company through Cleardocs costs $563.50 (including ASIC fees of $426 and GST).

Cleardocs can not give you any advice about this. The summary here is information only. It is provided by Maddocks.

Would you like the trust to be a 'fixed trust' for NSW Land Tax purposes?

If you answer "Yes", then the trust deed Cleardocs provides will mean that the trust is a fixed trust under section 3A of the Land Tax Management Act 1956 (NSW) (Act). That means that the land tax payable on any real estate the trust holds in New South Wales, will be calculated at a lower rate than if the trust were a ‘special trust’ under the Act. However, the Commissioner may still classify the trust as a 'special trust' for NSW land tax purposes — which would mean the higher rate would apply. The Commissioner may do that for any reason, including if the Commissioner has asked the trustee for information about the trust but that information has not been provided. You will need to send the executed deed to the NSW Office of State Revenue.

Cleardocs can not give you any advice about this. The summary here is information only. It is provided by Maddocks.