---
title: "Before a family trust election is made: specified individual, control test and the year"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/trusts-and-estate-planning/family-trust-election-before-you-sign"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a19-family-trust-election-before-you-sign"
area_id: "A19"
kind: "memo"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A19-T20261018-33"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# Before a family trust election is made: specified individual, control test and the year

> Note of the steps on the ATO family trusts page before a trustee makes a family trust election. It is not the approved form. The form already has a completion guide in the library.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/trusts-and-estate-planning/family-trust-election-before-you-sign  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Practice area: [Trusts & Estate Planning](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/trusts-and-estate-planning.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, Commonwealth
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the authority it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.

## When to use it

Use when a client asks whether to make a family trust election, including for an earlier income year. The election is made in writing in the approved form, after the specified income year has ended.

## Used for these tasks

- [Advise on and make a family trust election](https://ailawframework.com/practice/trusts-and-estate-planning.md#A19-T20261018-33)

## How AI may be used

AI may set out the questions on the ATO page and leave the answers blank. The lawyer decides whether the election is made and who the specified individual is.

**AI may:**

- List the income year the client has asked about and whether it has ended
- List the people who, on the file, can control income or capital of the trust
- Record that the approved form is a separate document

**AI must not:**

- Must not complete or sign the election
- Must not choose the specified individual
- Must not state that the family control test is passed

**The lawyer checks:**

- The specified individual is alive at the time the election is made. The page says an election cannot be made for a person who has died or who has not been born
- The trust passes the family control test at the end of the specified income year, on the test the page states for trusts
- An earlier year is specified only if the page's conditions from the start of that year to 30 June before the election are met
- The client is told that the election is not set and forget, and that the ATO has no power to extend the time to revoke or vary it

## Authorities

- [ATO, Family trusts, last updated 20 October 2026 (election in the approved form after the specified year has ended; specified individual must be alive when the election is made; family control test; variation generally by the fourth year)](https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/trusts/family-trusts)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/trusts-and-estate-planning/family-trust-election-before-you-sign and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*