An Inheritance Deserves a Plan as Considered as the Person Who Left It

Australia is in the middle of the largest transfer of wealth in its history, with trillions of dollars moving between generations over the coming decades. For many families, an inheritance is the single largest sum they’ll ever receive at once.

It also arrives at a tender time. There’s no rush to decide anything, and there’s real value in taking the time to get it right. At LIFE Financial Planners in West Perth, we help people make considered decisions about inherited money, property and superannuation – decisions that honour where the money came from and support the life you want to build with it.

Australia Has No Inheritance Tax – But Inherited Assets Still Have a Tax Story

This is the part most people are relieved to hear and then surprised by. Australia doesn’t levy an inheritance tax, estate tax or death duty. Receiving an inheritance is not, in itself, a taxable event.

What can carry tax consequences is what you receive and what you do with it:

• Income from inherited assets – rent from an inherited property, dividends from an inherited share portfolio – is assessable income in your hands from the moment it’s yours.
• Inherited property and shares carry a capital gains position that follows them from the deceased. When you eventually sell, the cost base and the timing of the sale both matter. New capital gains tax rules take effect on 1 July 2027, replacing the 50% CGT discount with inflation indexation and a minimum 30% tax rate for growth from that date – so the timing of a future sale is worth planning. Concessions around a deceased person’s main residence also reward good timing.
• Superannuation death benefits are treated differently depending on who receives them. A benefit paid to a spouse or other tax dependant is generally tax-free. A benefit paid to an adult child who isn’t a tax dependant generally isn’t, and the amount involved can be substantial.

Understanding this early gives you options. We factor these considerations into your financial advice and work alongside your accountant or registered tax agent, who provides the specific tax advice.

How we can help

Inheritance Financial Advice Perth

Here’s how we help you work through it:

• Start with a pause, not a plan. We help you park the funds sensibly while you take stock, so there’s no pressure to decide anything before you’re ready.
• Map what you’ve actually received. Cash, property, shares, superannuation and personal assets each behave differently. We build a clear picture of the whole inheritance.
• Factor in the tax considerations. We highlight how capital gains, investment income and super death benefit treatment shape your options, and work with your accountant or tax agent on the specifics before any decisions get made.
• Set priorities that reflect your life. Clearing debt, shoring up retirement, helping your own children, buying time back – we help you weigh what this money is genuinely for.
• Invest what’s left to work. Whatever isn’t needed immediately gets an investment strategy matched to your timeframe and comfort with risk.
• Protect it properly. Good structure keeps an inheritance secure and gives you control over where it eventually goes – which is where inheritance advice and estate planning meet.

The Inherited Assets We Help Perth Families Work Through

Inherited Cash and Investments

Lump sums, term deposits and share portfolios. We look at whether to hold, consolidate or reshape the portfolio around your own goals rather than the previous owner’s.

Inherited Property

A family home, an investment property or a share of either. The decisions around keeping, renting or selling carry capital gains consequences – including under the CGT rules that apply from 1 July 2027 – and the timing rules around a deceased person’s main residence can be genuinely valuable when used well.

Inherited Superannuation

Death benefits are among the most complex parts of an inheritance and among the most commonly mishandled. Who receives them and how they’re paid both affect the outcome.

Inherited Business Interests

Ownership stakes, partnerships and business assets bring their own structuring and succession questions. We coordinate with your accountant and solicitor so the advice fits together.