When you submit a new application in the name of a trust (i.e. a 'trust portfolio'), Selfwealth will request a certified copy of the trust deed in order to verify the trust details.
There are various types of trusts and different trusts have varying requirements in terms of what documents are required and whether or not they need to be certified. We understand this can be confusing so we will attempt to explain further here:
UNREGULATED TRUSTS
An unregulated trust simply means a trust not regulated by a government or regulatory body. They are typically family trusts, discretionary trusts or unit trusts.
If your trust is an unregulated trust, then it needs to be verified. To do this, we require a certified copy of the trust deed, or; certified copies of the key pages of the trust deed.
We appreciate that a trust deed is quite a large document, so to simplify the certification process we only require the key pages below to be certified:
- The front/title page of the trust deed
- Any schedules
- Pages listing the Trustees and Beneficiaries
- The execution (signing) page
If you submit a trust deed with your application and any of the above pages are not certified, you will be required to submit certified copies of the missing pages before your application progresses.
Please note:
- Although for other document types Selfwealth requires documents to have been certified in the last 90 days, this requirement does not apply to trust deeds.
- The certifier cannot be the settlor of the trust
- The certified must be impartial, therefore cannot witness their own documents or documents of family members
REGULATED TRUSTS (i.e SMSFs)
Another type of trust is a regulated trust, such as a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF). What sets these trusts apart from unregulated trusts is simply the fact that they are subject to the regulatory oversight of an Australian regulator.
As an SMSF is considered a regulated fund, we don’t need the full SMSF deed to verify it. We ask that you provide us a copy of the schedule page so we can verify the trustees of the trust. It does NOT need to be certified.
As Self Managed Super Funds are regulated by the ATO, we’ll use the ABN supplied to perform a check on your ABN also, to ensure its complying. This essentially means that the fund meets the specific requirements outlined in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act. We’ll check the information here: https://superfundlookup.gov.au/
If your SMSF shows a status of ‘regulation details removed’ then it may be that you’re a little late in lodging your tax returns. You’ll need to ensure you’re all up to date until we can approve your account so we’ll keep your application on hold until we hear from you.