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There are as many good reasons to set up a family trust

To protect your loved ones, as there are families in New Zealand. But one family in particular, the Reids of Dunedin, have one particularly good reason for having their assets in a family trust - It saved them from losing their home and considerable assets when Patriarch Bruce Reid was stabbed in the back by a business associate, an old band mate.

Battle of the bands

Bruce had made a small fortune in the music business by inventing, or rather re-inventing, the "flange" sound for the electric guitar for the digital age. He parlayed that patent into a recording contract and scored a Top 10 song in Canada alongside his lifelong buddy John. The two fancied themselves the Lennon and McCartney of Canada because they were Canadian-born and raised, and they had some minor success writing songs for other Canadian recording artists. Bruce developed the digital flange innovation on his own, but the boys co-wrote songs and produced albums for other artists on a 50-50 basis. The two travelled the world and fell in love with New Zealand, where they eventually settled and raised families. Bruce Reid had amassed a tidy sum from the flange invention, so he set up a family trust for all of his assets.

Success at last!

Five or so years after they moved to New Zealand, out of the blue, a song they had arranged and recorded for their old group, Double, suddenly took off. It wasn't written by Bruce or John; it was an old R&B standard ("I Know") that the boys had updated with electronic percussion and a funky horn riff, and it brought them riches as co-producers, arrangers, and session musicians when the song became a dance floor staple. Once it was picked up by MCI and used in their telecommunications ad campaign, they both bought spacious homes, and John even built a professional recording studio in the basement.

The legal challenge

A few years ago, once again out of the blue, Bruce and John were hit with a huge lawsuit, claiming they had stolen the arrangement for their moneymaking hit version of "I Know." The lawsuit was not only without merit, it was ridiculous. But John spent a great deal of his nest egg on lawyers in an attempt to protect his assets, notably his million-dollar home and studio. You can guess the outcome, but neither saw it coming. Bruce had originally set up his family trust so he could protect his flange invention profits against any patent claims, and also to stipulate which of his grandchildren would receive payouts upon graduation or marriage. Consequently, he was sitting pretty.

Get your family home trust set up today

Since he had turned his assets over to the family trust, Bruce wasn't worried about getting sued because he had nothing to lose personally. John, on the other hand, was never the same after the lawsuit. Paranoid about losing his fortune, he spent so much on legal representation that he ended up losing his prized home to the lawyers themselves. It's so easy to set up a family home trust nowadays that you can get started online in a matter of minutes, and it costs a small fraction of a traditional family trust arrangement.

After all it is better to be safe than sorry, so why not register with TrustUs today.

Its in your hands.