High Wealth Individuals
MGS Private has been advising high wealth individuals and their advisers for more than 25 years — providing bespoke structuring for significant investment portfolios, private asset acquisitions, and complex estate planning situations.
Why high wealth clients
need specialist advice
“By far the largest complaint both MGS and MGS Private hear from new high wealth clients is: I thought my accountant knew all that was required to effectively deal with my affairs.”
— MGS Private
The approach for high wealth individuals is fundamentally different from standard practice — because the stakes, the structures, and the consequences are fundamentally different. A general practitioner advising a high wealth individual with $20 million of assets, six trusts, two companies, an SMSF and a property development joint venture faces categorically different questions from those encountered in ordinary practice.
- Property acquisition structures that consider landholder duty consequences, debt/equity calibration and debt redraw
- Ability to split and clone structures as investment portfolios evolve over time
- Avoiding the one-size-fits-all trust — bespoke structures for each situation
- Using accountants and lawyers as conduits to expert specialist advice
- Structuring business entities to avoid Division 7A issues
- Applying for ATO and State Revenue binding rulings where appropriate
- Establishing entities with succession features designed for the next generation
- Seeking Counsel’s advice for large-scale transactions where appropriate
- Debt-laden trusts to fund private asset acquisitions — family home, holiday home, children’s homes
- Bank of Mum and Dad Trusts™ to assist children with property acquisition
- Borrowing in trusts to fund distributions for private asset acquisition
- Using the refinancing principle to minimise non-deductible debt
- Maintaining the CGT Principal Residence Exemption across all homes, including former residences that are rented
- Placing most assets in Succession Trusts to avoid Family Provision Act claims on the estate
Specialist advisory for
significant estates
Private Ancillary Funds
Establishing and advising on Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) for philanthropically-minded high wealth individuals — structure, eligibility, deductibility and ongoing compliance with the Private Ancillary Fund Guidelines.
Disability Trusts
Establishing Special Disability Trusts for beneficiaries with special needs — advising on tax treatment, conditions for concessional status, and integration with the overall estate and succession plan.
Main Residence Exemption Planning
Maintaining the CGT main residence exemption across multiple properties — including former residences that are rented, properties under construction, the six-year absence rule and the interaction with trust ownership.
Division 296 Tax Planning
Advising on the interaction of large superannuation balances with the Division 296 Tax regime — including the CGT Cost Base Reset Election before 30 June 2026, liquidity planning and investment strategy review.
ATO Dispute Representation
High wealth individuals are disproportionately targeted by ATO audit programs — particularly SNC reviews and Behaviours of Concern. MGS Private has specific experience representing high wealth clients through complex, multi-year ATO investigations.
Succession Trust Advice
Advising on creating a Succession Trust and amending an existing trust to contain succession features — ensuring that on the deaths of the principals, wealth is distributed precisely as they intend and is protected from Family Provision Act claims.
Advising a high wealth individual?
Brief MGS Private through your accountant to complement your firm’s advice with specialist federal and state tax expertise.