Minor children
Provide for education, maintenance, housing and development without paying the inheritance directly to a minor.
A trust created through your will
Give beneficiaries support, not an administrative burden they are not ready to carry.
A testamentary trust comes into operation after death under the terms of a valid will. It can guide how an inheritance is held, invested and applied for selected beneficiaries.
How it differs
Inter vivos versus testamentary
Inter vivos trust: established during your lifetime and administered immediately after the trustees are properly authorised.
Testamentary trust: written into a will and created only when the relevant person dies and the estate is administered.
The wording in the will matters. It should define the beneficiaries, trustee powers, purpose, distribution discretion, termination event and succession in a way that fits the intended family outcome.
Common planning scenarios
When immediate ownership may not be the best outcome
The correct age, duration, powers and safeguards are personal decisions—not default clauses to copy from someone else’s will.
Vulnerable beneficiary
Create ongoing stewardship where a person may need assistance because of disability, incapacity, addiction, exploitation risk or financial vulnerability.
Blended family
Balance support for a surviving spouse or partner with the long-term inheritance intended for children or other family lines.
Business or property
Allow trustees time and authority to manage, preserve, restructure or dispose of an asset rather than forcing an immediate transfer or sale.
Design questions
Seven decisions behind a useful clause
The consultation focuses on the real-life decisions the future trustees will face.
Who?
Which beneficiary or class of beneficiaries should be covered?
Why?
What support, protection or continuity is the trust meant to provide?
Until when?
Age, milestone, capacity, period or trustee discretion?
By whom?
Who should act as trustee and how should successors be appointed?
For what?
Maintenance, education, health, housing, enterprise or broader welfare?
How invested?
What mandate, risk and liquidity should guide the trustees?
What if?
Death, emigration, incapacity, conflict or changed circumstances?
What remains?
Who receives the balance when the trust ends?
Build the trust clause around the child—not a template.
Start with the free will request and flag that you want to discuss a testamentary trust.