{"id":14403,"date":"2023-04-05T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T02:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/?p=14403"},"modified":"2023-05-24T15:00:52","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T05:00:52","slug":"recent-judgement-has-important-implications-for-smsfs-with-incomplete-deed-histories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/corporate-trustees\/recent-judgement-has-important-implications-for-smsfs-with-incomplete-deed-histories\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent judgement has important implications for SMSFs with incomplete deed histories"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThe Victorian Court of Appeal recently handed a judgment regarding a trust with a lost deed: Vanta Pty Ltd v Mantovani<\/em> [2023] VSCA 53 (http:\/\/www.austlii.edu.au\/cgi-bin\/viewdoc\/au\/cases\/vic\/VSCA\/\/2023\/53.html<\/a>). Although this involved a family trust, rather than an SMSF, this case also has important implications for SMSFs with lost trust deeds.<\/p>\n

Facts<\/h2>\n

John Mantovani was born in 1960. John\u2019s older siblings include Nic and Rocky.<\/p>\n

Shortly before John was born, his parents purchased a residential property in Broadway Street, Cobram, Victoria.<\/p>\n

John has always lived in the Broadway Street property, with his wife also living there since 1982. They assert to spending substantial sums of money maintaining and improving the property.<\/p>\n

At some stage (probably in the 1970s) the Broadway Street Property was transferred to a company named Vanta Pty Ltd. It was well accepted that Vanta Pty Ltd acted as trustee of a trust known as the Mantovani Family Trust. Despite extensive searches, the trust deed for this trust was lost. The only document in the possession of the parties relating to the family trust was a schedule. There was no suggestion that the schedule was inaccurate, or that it was not originally attached to the (now lost) deed. The schedule stated:<\/p>\n