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In this episode of It Depends, partner Scott Hay-Bartlem talks about how the 2026 federal Budget changes might affect your estate planning. With updates to capital gains tax, negative gearing and discretionary family trusts, there’s a lot to keep an eye on. Scott explains what we know so far and why it’s worth reviewing your plans once the details become clearer. Watch for more updates in our upcoming webinars and podcasts.
Video transcript
Welcome to this edition of It Depends where I’m going to talk about whether the federal Budget changes affect estate planning.
What happened in the 2026 federal Budget?
As always, there was a lot happening in the federal Budget, but there are three particular measures that we’re finding affecting the work that we do and our clients and advisers. And there particularly are the changes to capital gains tax and how we calculate cost bases and the capital gain. We’re looking at the changes to negative gearing and then the change to how discretionary family trusts are going to be taxed.
For more details about this we will record some other upcoming ‘It Depends’ and a podcast and probably a webinar. So, keep an eye out for those for more details.
What is the impact of these changes on estate planning?
This is our first ‘It depends’. We’re not going to know until we actually see the draft legislation, the final legislation. We really got three pages in the Budget announcements. That’s really short on detail.
We do know that discretionary testamentary trusts that were not in existence at 7.30 pm on 12 May 2026 will be caught up in the changes to how discretionary family trusts are taxed.
Do I need to change my estate planning?
This is our second ‘It depends’. We’re not going to know more about whether discretionary testamentary trusts, for example, are going to be a good structure going forward until we get those rules.
Tax is one reason for testamentary trusts but there are some others. So, things like asset protection against claims, keeping beneficiaries’ hands off the money are good reasons to use testamentary trusts. They may still be good.
Obviously if you start making changes to how you own your assets in response to the budget changes, then that will be a good reason to review your estate planning.
In the meantime, you got any questions? Contact one of our team or keep an eye out for the webinars and the It Depends and the other things we’ll be doing in this area. Thanks for watching.
Cooper Grace Ward is a leading Australian law firm based in Brisbane.
This publication is for information only and is not legal advice. You should obtain advice that is specific to your circumstances and not rely on this publication as legal advice. If there are any issues you would like us to advise you on arising from this publication, please contact Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers.
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