The questions families ask first

If the will splits everything equally, what happens to the farm?

An equal split usually leaves the child who stayed on the farm owning it alongside siblings who left, and any one of them can ask to be paid out. Very few farms hold that kind of cash, so the money tends to come from new debt against the land or from selling part of it. If the will sets up a testamentary trust, note that under the draft trust tax rules one created from 1 July 2028 only escapes the 30% minimum tax if every beneficiary is an individual or an exempt entity. Most wills like this were written when the children were young, so it's worth reading yours again with the farm in mind.

Read more: What happens to the farm when the will splits it equally

Can we keep the farm in the family without selling land to pay out the kids who left?

It's often possible, but it takes planning well before anyone dies. The common approaches are a buy-sell agreement that sets the price and terms in advance, a testamentary trust that holds assets for the family rather than handing them straight out, life insurance or an investment bond that pays the off-farm children an equal value in cash, and a staged transfer of the farm while the parents are still around to explain their reasons. Most families end up using a combination, and the right mix depends on the land, the debt, and how the siblings get along.

Read more: What happens to the farm when the will splits it equally

Does the 2028 trust tax affect a family trust that owns our farm?

Possibly, though not in the way most people assume. The government has announced a minimum 30% tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028 with primary production income excluded, and the measure isn't yet law. The exclusion covers farming income rather than everything a farming trust earns, so income from farm stays, livestock transport, renewable energy projects, or off-farm investments may still be caught. Before changing the structure it helps to settle who will own the farm next, because a restructure built around the wrong succession plan usually has to be done twice.

Read more: The 2028 trust tax and farming family trusts · What happens to the farm when the will splits it equally

We've just sold a property. What should we do with the money?

Most of the decisions that matter don't need to be made in the first few weeks. Before the money goes anywhere, it helps to know how much of it is actually yours to invest once the tax on the sale, any debt, a replacement property, and siblings' shares are accounted for, and that figure is often well below the sale price. After that the questions are about time: what you'll need to draw on in the next few years, what's meant to last for the next generation, and what you'd like to be able to act on quickly. Those answers shape everything else, and they're easier to reach before the money is committed than after.

Read more: What to think about after selling the farm · Wealth management for farming families: the whole picture

Can our SMSF own the farm, and what happens to it if we separate?

An SMSF can own farmland used in a primary production business, and the family operation can lease it back at market rent. The difficulty comes in a separation, because the fund's interests can be split between two people but a paddock can't be halved as neatly. Moving an interest from one fund to another can generally be done without capital gains tax, but if one person ends up holding land and needing cash, selling that land to raise it usually does trigger tax, and being in pension phase only takes some of the sting out. The time to look at what the fund holds, and who it suits, is while everyone is still talking.

How much of our wealth should be off the farm?

There isn't a single right number, and a figure offered without knowing your family is a guess. What the off-farm money is for matters more than the percentage: carrying the family through a drought or a run of poor prices without selling land, funding the parents' retirement so it doesn't depend on the next generation's cash flow, and giving the children who left something of value that isn't a share of the farm. Putting a cost on each of those usually gives a more useful answer than any rule of thumb. For many farming families the uncomfortable part is seeing how much of everything they own sits in one asset, in one district, exposed to the same weather.

Read more: Off-farm diversification while you still run the farm · Wealth management for farming families: the whole picture

How can we build wealth off the farm without selling land?

By building assets beside the farm a little at a time, out of the surplus from the good years. The farm gets first claim on spare cash, and what's left after a good season goes into things that don't care whether it rains in the district.

It's also worth looking at capital that isn't earning its keep, like a house in town nobody lives in, or water the farm doesn't need in a wet run, which can be leased out rather than sold.

Read more: Off-farm diversification while you still run the farm

How do uneven seasons fit with investing?

Farm income arrives in lumps, so the plan follows how the property actually pays rather than a monthly city rhythm. Money goes in after harvest, a livestock sale, lease income, or a staged sale, and nothing goes in during the lean years.

The farm keeps first claim on any surplus, and cash for the next dry spell is set aside before anything is invested for the long term.

Read more: Off-farm diversification while you still run the farm

When is selling still the clearer path?

When a slow build beside the farm won't get the family where it needs to go. That's often when the parents are ready to stop and nobody's coming home, or when debt has outgrown what surplus can fix.

Then there are four options on the table: hold, consolidate, sell part, or sell. Selling an outblock that's never fitted the operation can do in one step what twenty years of surplus can't.

Read more: What to think about after selling the farm

Mum and Dad won't talk about succession. How do we raise it?

It often helps to start with something smaller than the whole farm, like who would run things if one of them was laid up for a season, or what they want their own retirement to look like. Those questions are easier to answer and tend to lead to the bigger ones on their own. Having someone from outside the family in the room, whether that's the accountant, a solicitor, or a facilitator, can take some of the heat out of it and make sure everyone gets heard. The goal of the first conversation isn't a decision, only an agreement that there'll be a second one.

Read more: Financial advice for farming families in regional Australia · Wealth management for farming families: the whole picture

Do we actually need a financial adviser yet?

The usual triggers are a property sale, an inheritance, a succession conversation that has stalled, a separation, or the parents starting to think about stepping back. Earlier tends to leave more room to move, particularly on succession, where there are more options while everyone is well and still talking than in the year a will is read. A good adviser should be able to tell you in one conversation whether you need ongoing help or whether your accountant and solicitor already have it covered. If the only question is which fund to buy, you probably don't need one yet.

Read more: Wealth management for farming families: the whole picture

Our accountant has looked after us for thirty years. Why would we need anyone else?

You may not, and an accountant who has known the family for thirty years is worth a great deal. Accountants look after tax, structures, and compliance, and many farming families lean on them for far more than that. Where a financial adviser usually adds something is on the money that sits outside the farm business: how it's invested, how it produces an income in retirement, and how it helps even things up between the children. The families who handle this well tend to have the accountant, the solicitor, and the adviser working together, and the accountant is usually the one who knows the family's history best.

Read more: What happens to the farm when the will splits it equally

Will the 2027 capital gains tax changes affect our farm?

They may, particularly if the land has been in the family a long time. The changes are law, and from 1 July 2027 the 50% discount is replaced by indexation and a minimum 30% tax on gains, with gains built up before that date keeping the old treatment. Land bought before 20 September 1985 has been fully exempt, and growth after 1 July 2027 will be taxed for the first time. Some ATO guidance is still to come, but the land's value on 1 July 2027 is set to become an important number for families who've held it for decades.

Read more: What to think about after selling the farm · The 2028 trust tax and farming family trusts

What is Larapinta Private?

Larapinta Private is a privately owned wealth management and family office firm, built specifically for Australia's agricultural and regional families. It pairs institutional-grade investment capability with a single, personal relationship led by the founder, Troy Armstrong. The investment capability is institutional. The relationship is personal. That's the whole point.

Who does Larapinta Private work with?

We work exclusively with Australia’s agricultural and regional families — farming, pastoral, and regional enterprises whose wealth is built in and around the land.

That is the whole firm. We are not a general high-net-worth practice with a rural side desk. If you’re looking for a city wealth manager that also happens to take farmers, we aren’t it. If you want institutional investment capability and family-office continuity built for how country wealth actually behaves, we are.

Is there a minimum?

Not a published one. The families we work with typically have substantial and often complicated wealth. Businesses, land, trusts, and the succession questions that come with them. It's the complexity as much as the size that decides whether we're the right fit. The honest test is a conversation. If Larapinta isn't right for your family, I'll tell you, and point you towards who might be.

What is a family office, and do I need one?

A family office coordinates the investment, structuring, succession, and governance of a family's wealth under one roof, instead of leaving each part to a separate adviser who never sees the whole. Families with significant or complex wealth, business interests, or plans that span generations tend to benefit from that coordination. Larapinta Private provides family office capability scaled to agricultural and regional families. In practice that means we project-manage the work between your existing professionals — especially around succession, a property sale, or a restructure — rather than leaving you to run the project yourself.

How are investments looked after?

Portfolios are built in three layers. The Foundation is set for the long term, the next thirty years. The Conviction sleeve is positioned for the next three to seven years and adjusted as conditions change. Treasury holds cash, term deposits, government bonds and fixed income against near-term needs. The investment capability is delivered through arcpoint OCIO, our outsourced chief investment office. arcpoint OCIO operates within the Fiduciary Partners ecosystem and is contracted with the OCIO Collective, which provides access to the global investment research and solutions of Mercer. It's the kind of capability most families would otherwise only find inside a large institution.

Who holds my money, and is it safe?

Your investments are held through Spectrum, a platform operated and administered by Praemium Australia Limited. Every asset is held either directly in your own name, or on trust for you by a custodian independent of Larapinta Private. Praemium's position is to use established global custodians rather than act as its own. Clearstream Australia Limited holds managed funds and term deposits, recorded in your name rather than pooled in an omnibus structure, and Citibank Pty Limited holds international shares, foreign currency, and fixed income. Australian listed shares are held directly in your own name on your own HIN, where you are the legal and beneficial owner, and your cash sits with ANZ Banking Group Limited, one of Australia's four major banks, in a platform account with its own unique BSB and account number. Your family keeps beneficial ownership throughout. Larapinta Private never takes custody of your money — we look after how it's invested, and somebody else holds it.

What does Larapinta Private charge?

A clear, asset-based fee on the funds we look after. No entry fees, no exit fees, no commissions from product issuers, and no hidden charges.

The exact rate is agreed with you before work starts and written into your client contract (and any advice documents that follow). Fees are capped at 1.2% per year plus GST of funds under advice. Tiered pricing may apply at higher asset levels.

For example, on a $1,000,000 portfolio at an agreed rate of 1.0% per year plus GST, the annual advice fee is $11,000 including GST.

You’ll always know exactly what you’re paying, and exactly what you’re getting for it.

What happens to my existing accountant and lawyer?

They stay. Most families come to us with an accountant and a lawyer they've trusted for years, and the last thing we'd do is unpick that. Larapinta Private coordinates with your existing advisers so the investment, tax, structuring, and estate pieces work as one, rather than as separate parts that have never been asked to fit together.

How often will I hear from you?

Regularly, and personally. Each quarter, the families we work with receive a Private Letter and a performance report. Beyond that, the calls and emails are unscheduled and unlimited. You pick up the phone when you need to, not when a review happens to be due. The contact that matters most is usually the one that was never on anyone's calendar.

Where is Larapinta Private based, and do you work with families outside Victoria?

Larapinta Private is based in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, and works with agricultural and regional families across Australia. The firm was built on a simple idea. Serious regional wealth deserves serious capability, brought to where the family actually is. More often than not, that means Troy at the kitchen table.

Who is Troy Armstrong?

Troy Armstrong is the Senior Adviser and founder of Larapinta Private, with nearly two decades advising agricultural and regional Australian families. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Financial Planning), a Master of Financial Planning, and the SMSF Specialist Advisor accreditation. He leads every relationship personally. Nobody hands you to a junior once the paperwork is signed.

How is Larapinta Private licensed and regulated?

Larapinta Private Pty Ltd (ABN 71 696 380 677) is a Corporate Authorised Representative (1321104) of Capella Advisory Pty Ltd, ABN 54 669 300 163, AFSL No 550125. Troy Armstrong is an Authorised Representative (ASIC AR Number 354299) of Capella Advisory Pty Ltd.

What makes Larapinta Private different from a city wealth manager?

Most firms apply a city framework to country realities. Larapinta was built the other way around, for seasonal cash flows, water entitlements, commodity exposure, land succession, and the horizons these families actually live by. One person leads the relationship, with institutional investment capability behind them.

What is the Foundation, Conviction and Treasury framework?

It's how the portfolios are built. The Foundation is set for the long term, the next thirty years, and holds steady. The Conviction sleeve is positioned for the next three to seven years and adjusts as conditions change. Treasury holds cash, term deposits, government bonds and fixed income against what the family needs close to hand. Each does its own job, and none is asked to do another's.

Does Larapinta Private help with succession and estate planning?

Yes. Succession, estate planning, family governance, and intergenerational structuring sit at the centre of the work, alongside the investment side. These are the conversations that take real time and assume decades, not quarterly reviews.

How do I begin?

The first step is a conversation. You can request an introduction through the contact page and Troy will be in touch personally, to work out whether Larapinta Private is the right fit for your family. No pressure and no obligation.

How do you check our identity when we start, and who sends the link?

Australia's anti-money-laundering rules were expanded on 31 March 2026, so before we start we have to confirm who you are. Every family we work with goes through it. We use FAAA SafeID, the Financial Advice Association Australia's digital identification platform, built with KordaMentha. You'll get a secure link from noreply@cloud.vigl.biz and verify online, so there's no posting your passport and licence. The checks follow AUSTRAC requirements and the records sit in SafeID, not in an inbox. Troy will tell you it's coming. If anything looks off, ring him first.