4.14.3.20 Trustee requirements for special disability trusts

Summary

This topic contains information on the following:

• who can be a trustee, and
• how many trustees are required.

Who can be a trustee

A trustee can be either an individual or a corporation. An individual, or a director of a trustee corporation, must:

• be an Australian resident, and
• not have been disqualified at any time from managing corporations under the Corporations Act 2001, and
• have not been convicted of an offence of dishonest conduct against a law of the Commonwealth, state, territory or foreign country, and
• have not been convicted of an offence under the SSAct or the SS(Admin)Act or the VEA.

How many trustees are required

A special disability trust must have 2 or more trustees acting jointly, which includes friends and family, except where a professional trustee is appointed.

If a corporation is a trustee, the corporation must have 2 or more directors who comply with the trustee requirements.

A professional trustee is either a trustee corporation or an Australian legal practitioner within the meaning of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW) or its legislative equivalent in other Australian states or territories. A professional trustee must also comply with the trustee requirements.

This requirement is contained in the model trust deed (section 5.1 refers) and is aimed at protecting the principal beneficiary.

For a copy of the model trust deed, refer to the Special Disability Trusts page on the DSS website.