You certainly can! All of our order forms are available in PDF format, and can be downloaded from our website:

http://ntaacorporate.com.au/products

These PDF forms can be directly typed onto (just click on the relevant part of the form and type away!) and then faxed to us for processing.

We recommend you try this style of completing forms, as it avoids problems with translating handwriting and speeds up processing times. Typed information will generally avoid (potentially) numerous phone calls to verify the information in the order.

If information given to us is wrong, or handwriting is misinterpreted from the order forms, this can sometimes lead to a $50 amendment fee (if amendments are requested) to cover reprinting of documents and postage costs. Further costs may be incurred if extra documents need to be lodged with ASIC, or a deed of variation needs to be made to a trust deed.

Therefore, we would encourage the use of our PDF order forms which can be typed onto, making it less likely for errors to occur.

Unfortunately, no. Our service operates by taking instructions from members (generally accountants) who have already considered all of the issues relevant to your situation - unfortunately, we do not and cannot provide legal advice, and you may wish to seek advice from an accountant or solicitor.

We provide very competitively priced business structures, and rely on providing standard form documents to accountants who know enough about what they're clients need to simply complete our instruction form and send it in. The documents are checked by lawyers, but our agreements with them do not extend to providing legal advice.

If anyone needs anything more complicated, we normally advise them to seek specialist advice.

No, we do not provide any kind of legal advice, including tax advice. However, members of the NTAA can log a hotline call, and speak to one of the NTAA's tax specialists about specific tax issues.

Please note that NTAA Corporate primarily provides a service of setting up new business structures; i.e., new trusts, companies, partnerships and superannuation funds. We also may assist with some small changes to existing structures.

We do not and cannot assist with the general day-to-day running of the business structure after it has been set up. We do not provide legal advice.

However, the documents that we send out should assist with the general running of the particular structure. It is expected that all of the parties to the relevant documents have read them and are familiar with them (e.g., a trustee should know what is in the trust deed). In particular, the process for effecting a change to the unit holders of a unit trust, the partners of a partnership, or the shareholders and directors of a company, are provided in the relevant unit trust deed/partnership agreement/company constitution.

We can assist with:

• Certain changes to companies (including changes to officeholders, shareholders, addresses, names, and the company constitution);
• Changes in the trustee or appointor of a trust (via a deed of appointment and/or removal), or very minor changes to the trust deed of a trust (via a deed of variation; e.g., adding a power to the list of powers exercisable by the trustee); and
• Changes to the deeds of superannuation funds.

We do not provide stamp duty advice, and it is best that you obtain your own advice before instructing us to do something on your behalf. However, we can provide the following links to the various State revenue authorities to assist you with your enquiries:

ACT: http://www.revenue.act.gov.au/

NSW: http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/

Northern Territory: http://www.revenue.nt.gov.au/

Queensland: http://www.osr.qld.gov.au/"

South Australia: http://www.revenuesa.sa.gov.au/

Tasmania: http://www.sro.tas.gov.au/

Victoria: http://www.sro.vic.gov.au/

Western Australia: http://www.osr.wa.gov.au/

Stamping is an archaic State government requirement, but still a necessary one. Certain documents, such as trust deeds, can't be relied on until they are stamped, and trust deeds must be stamped within 3 months of being made or else a penalty applies (but deeds can still be stamped after 3 months).

Yes - no problem. Once the trust exists, a bank account can be opened (provided the bank doesn't require the deed to be stamped first).

An agreement between two or more parties generally requires valuable consideration (e.g., money, or property) to be provided by each of the parties to be legally enforceable.

However, a document executed as a deed can be enforceable, even if one or more of the parties to the deed do not provide valuable consideration.

To be a deed, the document needs to state that it is a deed, and it needs to be executed by stating that it is being "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" by any individual parties (although the requirements for the execution of a document by a company are contained in the Corporations Act 2001, and the company's own constitution). This is a technical requirement, and a throwback to when people actually need to affix their "seal" to a deed to make it valid. Even though seals are not now required, the deed still needs to state that it has been sealed.

Also, all signatures on deeds by individuals generally need to be witnessed by an independent adult.

No - a person under the age of 18 is considered to be under a "legal disability" and lacks capacity to sign and be bound by a deed. Their legal guardian can enter into these kinds of arrangements on their behalf.

We do not "replace" trust deeds of existing trusts (except for superannuation funds) as this is highly likely to resettle the trust.

When a "resettlement" occurs, the old trust is considered to come to an end and a new one begins. This generally happens where the trustee undertakes to do something (a new "trust") not considered when the trust was first established by the original settlor - therefore, the trust has been "resettled". Effectively, the old trust disposes of all of its assets to the new trust, giving rise to CGT and stamp duty issues.

It is commonly accepted that small changes to a trust deed, such as the addition of a trust power, will not resettle the trust, but that a change to the beneficiaries, and especially the adoption of an entirely new deed, can resettle the trust.

Unfortunately, for the reasons set out above, we cannot simply issue you with a new deed. However, you may be able to do one of the following:

1. Look everywhere for the deed (under the bed, behind the fridge, etc).
2. Contact any banks, partners, lawyers, accountants, etc, who may have come into contact with the trust and who may have kept a copy of the deed.
3. Contact the original lawyers who drafted up the deed. Even if they don't have a copy they may be able to provide you with a time frame that it was created and from there they may be able to provide you with a copy of a standard deed from that time frame. There is RISK in doing this. As it is not the exact deed and there are no schedules, it may not be accepted as the trust's deed.
4. Final option: it may be possible to apply for the court to have the deed "reconstructed" by the court. This will be costly, and will probably involve giving evidence to the court about what the parties to the deed remembered it contained. This may be difficult as the original trustee or settler may have since died. If it gets to this stage you will need to seek professional advice.