When you started out, someone helped you choose a structure — maybe a sole trader setup, a company, a family trust, or a self-managed super fund. It fit at the time. But structures are easy to set and forget, and the world around them keeps moving.
Why structures drift out of date
A structure that was right five or ten years ago can quietly stop being right because:
- Your business has grown, changed activity, or taken on staff or partners.
- Your family situation has changed — a marriage, separation, blended family, or new children.
- Your assets have grown and asset protection now matters more than it did.
- The rules around trusts, companies and super have changed since you set up.
Common issues we see
- Old trust deeds that don’t reflect how the trust is actually being used.
- SMSF estate planning gaps — where super may not flow the way you expect if something happens to you.
- Super not aligned with your Will, because super isn’t automatically covered by it.
- No enduring power of attorney or succession plan for a company — including who steps in as director.
- Blended-family considerations that the original structure never accounted for.
When to review
A good rule of thumb: review your structure if it’s been more than a few years, or any time your business or family situation changes meaningfully. It’s far cheaper and calmer to fix a structure in a planned review than in the middle of a crisis.
The best time to look at your structure is when nothing is wrong — that’s when you have the most options.
What a review covers
We’ll look at your current structure, your goals, your assets and your family situation, and explain — in plain English — what’s working, what’s exposed, and what (if anything) is worth changing. Sometimes the answer is “you’re fine,” and that’s a useful answer too.