Hamilton Locke Private

Helping to safeguard your legacy

Your legacy is built over decades, and across generations. It’s something worth protecting with careful planning, foresight and vision. Our dedicated Hamilton Locke Private team guides Australian individuals, families and family offices to provide comfort and peace of mind for the present and the future.

Our rich cross-sector expertise encompasses all facets of estate and succession planning, taxation, and wealth structuring for individuals and businesses. We operate as part of Hamilton Locke – Australia’s fastest-growing law firm – and this ensures our private clients can also unlock a wealth of ancillary expertise such as privacy and data protection, transaction management, international wealth transfers, and ESG compliance.

With a handpicked team of private client specialists spanning the western to eastern seaboard of Australia, we serve as trusted advisors to you and your family – no matter where you are or where you’re going. We understand that your business and estate planning are not just about money, or another transaction. Our lawyers take the time to understand your unique family dynamics and business history, tailoring bespoke solutions to match your ambitions. We aim to be a part of your journey too – elevating exceptional client service with care and sensitivity.

Whether you’re ensuring peace of mind by securing your estate, building your wealth for future generations, or aligning your family’s financial future to your business ambitions, we are here to help safeguard your legacy – your most valuable asset of all.

How we can help

Estate and succession planning – including wills, testamentary and family discretionary and fixed trusts, enduring and general powers of attorney, advanced health directives, business transition arrangements and complex trust advice.

Tax and structuring advice – including asset protection, family governance structures and policies, entity establishments, restructuring, ownership of luxury assets, tax residency, and tax compliance and duty advice.

Estate administration – ensuring executors and trustees understand and fulfil their duties and comply with statutory obligations across multiple jurisdictions.
Estate litigation and dispute resolution – including executor and trustee disputes, power of attorney challenges, will disputes, testamentary capacity, family provision applications, and proprietary estoppel and undue influence claims.

Tailored support for family offices – including business funding, corporate and strategic advice, reporting and administration, intergenerational transfers, and workplace matters.

Philanthropic services – such as charitable foundation establishment, administration and compliance.

Advice on privacy, data protection, and cyber resilience.

ESG compliance.

Transaction management – such as property transactions, acquisitions and divestments, company and family constitutions, and shareholder agreements.

International wealth transactions and cross-border tax residency matters.

SMSF and insurance compliance.

How we can help

Individual and family services

Estate and succession planning – including wills, testamentary and family discretionary and fixed trusts, enduring and general powers of attorney, advanced health directives, business transition arrangements and complex trust advice.
Tax and structuring advice – including asset protection, family governance structures and policies, entity establishments, restructuring, ownership of luxury assets, tax residency, and tax compliance and duty advice.
Estate administration – ensuring executors and trustees understand and fulfil their duties and comply with statutory obligations across multiple jurisdictions.
Estate litigation and dispute resolution – including executor and trustee disputes, power of attorney challenges, will disputes, testamentary capacity, family provision applications, and proprietary estoppel and undue influence claims.

Family office services

Tailored support for family offices – including business funding, corporate and strategic advice, reporting and administration, intergenerational transfers, and workplace matters.
Philanthropic services – such as charitable foundation establishment, administration and compliance.
Advice on privacy, data protection, and cyber resilience.
ESG compliance.
Transaction management – such as property transactions, acquisitions and divestments, company and family constitutions, and shareholder agreements.
International wealth transactions and cross-border tax residency matters.
SMSF and insurance compliance.

Here for your journey

Life is not linear, which is why our services are designed to support you through the ebbs and flows of personal, family and commercial dynamics that arise throughout your lifetime. Let us join you on your journey, and support you as the custodians of your family wealth.

•Preserve and protect Safeguard your assets and structure your wealth effectively, now and into the future. From structuring and taxation advice to guidance in estate planning, business succession and intergenerational wealth transfers, we help you build your wealth and plan for a seamless transition.

•Dispute and rectify Wealth transfer isn’t always straightforward. Manage complex disputes effectively, discreetly and in the most pragmatic and cost-efficient manner with the benefit of our dedicated litigation and dispute resolution expertise.

•Support and consolidate From designing and implementing the right structures at the outset to ongoing support for asset protection, family governance, regulatory compliance, management reporting and philanthropic management as you grow your assets, your ambitions are in trusted hands with our combined private wealth and corporate expertise.

Experience.

*Some of the above representations were undertaken while at previous firms

Acting for a high-profile Victorian family in a succession planning assignment involving a complex corporate restructure of over 80 trusts.

Acting for a privately owned company in relation to a scrip-for-scrip transaction and considering whether they were eligible for CGT roll-over relief.

Acting for high wealth owners on the application of the small business CGT and transfer duty concessions to property transfers undertaken between family members.

Advising high net worth clients on sophisticated estate plans, complex will drafting requirements, and the mitigation of estate litigation risks.

Acting in complex estate litigation matters involving proprietary estoppel, undue influence, testamentary capacity, power of attorney and family provision claims across competing beneficiaries.

Acting for a family group in relation to a restructure of their primary production business, involving complex family trusts and partnerships.

Providing complex asset protection advice for a high net worth family in New South Wales, including a restructure of their family group asset ownership, and implementing asset protection mechanisms to reduce the risk of future family provision applications.

Acting in complex family agribusiness restructuring and intergenerational asset transfer matters, involving a range of land and cattle transfers, asset and share sale agreements, licence deeds, partnership dissolutions, and the change of control of trust and appointor entities.

Here for your journey

Preserve and protect

Safeguard your assets and structure your wealth effectively, now and into the future. From structuring and taxation advice to guidance in estate planning, business succession and intergenerational wealth transfers, we help you build your wealth and plan for a seamless transition.

Dispute and rectify

Wealth transfer isn’t always straightforward. Manage complex disputes effectively, discreetly and in the most pragmatic and cost-efficient manner with the benefit of our dedicated litigation and dispute resolution expertise.

Support and consolidate

From designing and implementing the right structures at the outset to ongoing support for asset protection, family governance, regulatory compliance, management reporting and philanthropic management as you grow your assets, your ambitions are in trusted hands with our combined private wealth and corporate expertise.