Trusts Bill 2024

Introduced: 21/5/2024By: Hon Y D'Ath MPStatus: Lapsed

Justice & Rights Business & Economy Seniors

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Plain English Summary

Overview

This bill replaces Queensland's 50-year-old Trusts Act 1973 with modernised trusts legislation. It clarifies what trustees must and can do, makes it easier to deal with common trust problems without going to court, and strengthens protections for people who benefit from trusts.

Who it affects

Anyone involved with a trust in Queensland is affected — whether as a trustee, a beneficiary of a family trust or deceased estate, or involved with a charitable trust. Professional trustees and legal practitioners must adapt to the new statutory duties and powers.

Key changes

Trustees must now meet explicit statutory duties of care, honesty, good faith, and record-keeping, with higher standards for professional trustees
Trustees gain the powers of an absolute owner of trust property, giving them broader authority to manage and deal with trust assets
The amount of trust capital a trustee can apply for a beneficiary's maintenance without court approval increases from $2,000 to $100,000 (indexed to inflation)
New mechanisms allow replacement of a last remaining trustee who has died, lost capacity, or become bankrupt without needing to apply to court
The District Court can now handle trust disputes within its monetary limit, making it cheaper to resolve smaller trust matters
Charitable trust trustees can apply to the Attorney-General instead of the Supreme Court to redirect trust funds when the original charitable purpose can no longer be fulfilled
Courts gain new power to disqualify unfit trustees from acting as trustee of any trust
Beneficiaries gain a statutory right to inspect and obtain copies of trust accounts

How this affects you

Justice & Rights

•Trust disputes involving smaller amounts can now be heard in the District Court instead of the Supreme Court, reducing legal costsClause 324Amends the District Court of Queensland Act 1967 to give the District Court jurisdiction for trust applications within its monetary limit.
•Courts can now disqualify a person found to have breached their duties from acting as a trustee of any trustClause 173New power for the court to disqualify a person from being appointed as a trustee if they have committed breaches of trust making them unfit to act.
•Trust beneficiaries no longer need to exhaust all claims against a trustee before pursuing someone who wrongly received trust propertyClause 148Removes the requirement to exhaust all remedies against the trustee before enforcing remedies against a recipient of a wrongful distribution.
•Charitable trust trustees can apply to the Attorney-General instead of the Supreme Court to redirect funds when the original purpose can no longer be fulfilledPart 12, Division 3, Subdivision 3Enables the Attorney-General to approve cy pres schemes for charitable trusts where the trust property does not exceed the District Court's monetary limit.

Business & Economy

•Professional trustees must now meet a higher statutory duty of care matching the standard expected in their professionClause 65Professional trustees must exercise the care, diligence and skill that a prudent person engaged in their profession would exercise in managing the affairs of other persons.
•Trustees gain all the powers of an absolute owner of trust property, reducing the need for costly court orders to carry out routine trust administrationClause 87Gives trustees all the powers of an absolute owner of trust property, subject to the trustee's duties and with certain core powers that cannot be removed by the trust instrument.
•Trustees can now delegate investment powers to another person, such as a professional fund managerClause 81Authorises a trustee to delegate investment powers by instrument to another person on terms the trustee considers appropriate.
•Courts can review and reduce excessive trustee fees and professional chargesClause 166Allows the court, on its own initiative or on application, to review and reduce amounts charged by trustees for commission or professional charges if considered excessive.

Seniors

•When the last remaining trustee loses capacity, trust property now automatically vests in the Public Trustee to keep the trust running until a new trustee is appointedPart 3, Division 8Trust property devolves to the Public Trustee when the last continuing trustee has impaired capacity for administering the trust, preventing trust property being stuck in legal limbo.
•An administrator or attorney for a trustee who has lost capacity can now appoint a replacement trustee without going to courtClause 22Allows the administrator or attorney appointed for all financial matters for the last continuing trustee with impaired capacity to appoint a replacement trustee.
•The amount of trust capital that can be applied for a beneficiary's maintenance without court approval rises from $2,000 to $100,000, indexed to inflationClauses 133 and 135Increases the prescribed amount from $2,000 to $100,000, adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index for Brisbane.

Bill Journey

Introduced21 May 2024View Hansard

First Reading21 May 2024View Hansard

▸Committee21 May 2024View Hansard

Referred to Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee

Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committeeportfolio

Committee Findings

Recommended passage

The Housing, Big Build and Manufacturing Committee examined the Trusts Bill 2024 and tabled its report in August 2024. The committee recommended the bill be passed, while also recommending the Department of Justice and Attorney-General consider including a definition for 'appoint' to ensure it does not restrict who can hold property under a remedial constructive or resulting trust. The bill lapsed when the 57th Parliament was dissolved on 1 October 2024, and the incoming government noted the recommendations were not adopted but would be reviewed if a similar bill is introduced.

Key findings (5)

The bill aimed to replace the Trusts Act 1973, which had not been substantially amended since commencement, with modern legislation based on contemporary drafting practices.
The Queensland Law Society raised concerns about the requirement for court approval to appoint more than four trustees, suggesting a concurrent power for the Attorney-General to reduce costs.
The department confirmed the bill's approach was consistent with the Queensland Law Reform Commission's final report recommendations.
Stakeholders raised concerns about whether the definition of 'appoint' could unintentionally restrict who may hold property under remedial constructive or resulting trusts.
The bill lapsed upon dissolution of the 57th Parliament and was not re-introduced in the 58th Parliament.

Recommendations (2)

The committee recommends the Trusts Bill 2024 be passed.
The committee recommends the Department of Justice and Attorney-General considers including a definition for 'appoint' in the Trusts Bill 2024 to ensure it does not restrict who can be deemed to hold property under a remedial constructive or resulting trust.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors

Committee Report2 Aug 2024

Committee report tabled

Second Reading

Third Reading14 June 2024View Hansard

Lapsed1 Oct 2024

Referenced Entities

Legislation

Organisations

Queensland Law Reform Commission Supreme Court of Queensland District Court of Queensland Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Public Trustee of Queensland Australian Bureau of Statistics Reserve Bank of Australia

Roles & Offices

Attorney-GeneralPublic Trustee of Queenslandcustodian trustee managing trustee statutory trustee professional trustee

Sectors Affected

Financial Services Legal Services Civil Law

Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards