Risk-Takers & Asset Holders Explained

Here at Inspire, when there’s a couple in the family group, we designate one of them to be the risk-taker and one of them is the asset holder. And when we’re running the business, we are setting up structures for that family. When they are buying and investing in property or shares, we make sure it’s done very specifically. 

Risk-taker roles are the director of the trading entities, the director of trustee companies if a trust is running the business. And ideally holds no assets in their own name. For instance, if the family home isn’t in their name. 

In terms of the asset holder, they’ve got control of the assets and holding entities such as asset trust and bucket companies. 100% ownership of family assets like home, cars, and their typical roles in structures are the shareholders, trustee of asset trusts and the appointor of trusts. 

What if the asset holder just buggers off and leaves the risk-taker without anything, nothing in their own names? 

We’ve been told by multiple family lawyers that even though the assets are spread between the spouses with 100% in one and zero in the other, all of that is seen as marital assets. In the case of relationship breakdown or divorce, it’s not just one person who gets everything and the other gets zero. The idea of that is because the family court is the court that can look through all this asset protection and structuring. 

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