We are dealing with an interesting matter involving transfer of farmland
Our client’s husband passed away a year ago. He left his farming property to a landholding trust.
She has been running the farm in her own name since.
Our client wants to sell some of that land to her children, but without incurring substantial transfer duty.
This can be achieved by firstly vesting the properties in her name from the trust, as she was named as a beneficiary of the trust.
Then she can take advantage of the family farm concessions in the Duties Act to transfer the properties to her children with no duty because she will have been using the properties as farming properties before the transfer and the children are intending to continue to run the properties as farms later.
So, if you are looking at selling your house to your children, turn the backyard into a market garden beforehand, then sell it on condition that they continue to run the market garden, at least for a little while!!!
For assistance with duty-effective transactions, see Michael Paterson & Associates.