Webinar On Demand - Professional Advisers as Appointor of their Client’s Family Trust

1 CPD Point – Ethics and Professional Responsibility

The positions of Appointor and Guardian are arguably the most significant positions in a Discretionary Family Trust and the utmost care should be taken in deciding who should hold these roles. Depending on the terms of the Trust Deed, the Appointor and Guardian may not only ’hire and fire’ the trustee, but may also block or otherwise control any changes to the Trust Deed and may even be required to consent to any trust distributions.

In some circumstances, it is the client’s professional adviser, such as their lawyer or accountant, that holds these positions in a Family Trust. However, is this a good idea? What are the risks and ethical obligations for the lawyer or accountant and why would they take on such a role?

In this webinar, Professional Advisers as Appointor of their Client’s Family Trust, John Wojtowicz, takes you through the ethical and professional considerations that lawyers and accountants must consider before agreeing to such an appointment.

Specifically, John will cover:

• Role of Appointor and Guardian;
• Fiduciary position of Appointor and Guardian;
• Why do lawyers and accountants become Appointor or Guardians of their clients’ family trusts?;
• Conflict of interest - does holding these positions potentially conflict with the client’s interest?;
• Ability of the Appointor to resign;
• Can the lawyer or accountant charge for holding such positions?;
• Clauses worth considering in the Trust Deed for professional Appointors;
• Issues arising from the terms of the trust deed – succession, voting, access to trust information; and
• Alternative strategies – Corporate Appointors and board positions.

This webinar is suitable for lawyers, accountants and other professional advisers as well as prospective trustees, and is pitched at an intermediate level.

Continuing Professional Development

Legal CPD:

WA legal practitioners (QA Provider ID 29250)

1 CPD point, Competency Area 3 – Ethics and Professional Responsibility. To ensure you receive your CPD Points for this event, please provide us with your Legal Practice Board Practitioner ID during registration. Note: CPD Points are only uploaded to the Legal Practice Board after the Webinar On Demand is viewed. This is not an interactive activity.

Legal practitioners outside of WA

If you consider that this webinar satisfies your individual requirement, or is relevant to your immediate or long-term professional development needs, you may claim 0.5 CPD points for every 30 minutes of attendance and participation.

Accounting CPD:

1 CPD Point

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Presenter: John Wojtowicz
Director, Law Central Legal

John has practiced law since 1988 and has been admitted to both the Supreme Court of WA and the High Court of Australia. Working predominantly in the areas of commercial law and estate planning, John has acted for both large institutions and individuals, as well as serving on multiple bank panels. Over the years, he has acted for clients on complex estate planning and has represented clients in the Supreme Court of WA on trust and inheritance issues. He is a sought after speaker on trusts, business structures and estate planning and brings a wealth of practical experience to his seminars.