http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au en-us Thu, 24 Sep 2026 02:03:00 +1000 Rocketspark http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13346/what-the-law-cant-fix-in-a-family-inheritance-dispute/ Over the years, I've noticed something about families who end up fighting over money. The fight is almost never really about the money. It's about power. Control. Legacy. Who was chosen, who was overlooked, who was loved, and who was quietly expected to sacrifice. By the time a family reaches the point of dividing an estate through lawyers and courtrooms, the dollar figure is usually just the surface of something much older and much deeper. Courts are buil... Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:53:23 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13346 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13324/the-gap-between-intention-and-action/ There is a gap that shows up again and again in families who are thinking about succession. I learned the name for it recently, sitting in on a session with Dr Dennis Jaffe, one of the leading researchers in this field. He calls it the succession gap. Families intend to plan. They know it matters. And yet, when it comes to actually doing something about it, very few take the first step. I found this both familiar and a little confronting. Familiar, because I have watched... Wed, 09 Sep 2026 15:31:56 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13324 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13313/to-the-fathers-and-the-men-who-hold-families-together/ Father's Day has me thinking about the steadiness some men bring to a family. Not always loud about it, not looking for thanks, just showing up year after year and doing the work that holds everything together. For a lot of us, that steadiness came from a father. For others, it came from a grandfather, an uncle, a mentor, or someone who simply chose to stick around when it mattered. However it showed up in your life, it's worth pausing for. Whether you're celeb... Sun, 06 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13313 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13304/the-discipline-of-staying-sharp/ In nearly three decades of advising families, I have learned something. The moment you think you have seen it all is usually the moment before a family proves you wrong.Every family carries its own history. Its own version of what fairness looks like. Its own quiet tensions. Sitting with families, year after year, I have come to believe that experience alone is not enough. They deserve someone who is still curious. Still learning. Still willing to be surprised.There is a quiet assumption in this... Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:24:07 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13304 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13249/what-a-musical-about-death-taught-me-about-family/ A few months ago I booked tickets to see Beetlejuice the musical. Not exactly typical reading material for an advisor, I know. But sitting with that story, a family upended overnight by sudden loss, scrambling to make sense of what comes next, I found myself thinking about the families I work with every day. Because that is actually how it happens. Not always dramatically. But often without warning. A health scare. A marriage breakdown. A parent who c... Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:10:11 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13249 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13138/joining-sorella/ I am very pleased to share that I have joined Brad Scott as Client Director of Sorella, a specialist division within EWM Group  dedicated to women of influence, wealth, and legacy.Over the years, I have come to notice that the most meaningful changes rarely feel sudden. They tend to arrive after a long period of quiet consideration, a sense that something is ready even before you can quite name it. That is how this decision has felt for me, and what stays the same is the thing that has alw... Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:45:46 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13138 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13133/the-strength-that-learns-to-stand-alone/ Recently I met Janet, someone who was sharp, capable, and almost impossible to read. She was not overwhelmed. She was not looking for reassurance. She simply worked through her financial position with her adviser and accountant, ticking through what needed attention, giving facts, but never quite giving herself. It was not until a couple of quiet questions, asked at the right moment, that something shifted. A pause settled over the room. And slowly, in small pieces, Janet beg... Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:55:13 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13133 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12975/my-nonnas-kitchen/ Some of my earliest memories are not of classrooms or playgrounds. They are of a kitchen table. My Nonna lived in the centre of town in far north Queensland, in a sugar cane community where everybody knew everybody, and where reputation and loyalty meant everything. From the time I was six years old, I would sit at her kitchen table and watch the world come to her. The table itself had a story. My great grandparents had arrived from Italy in the early 1920s, ma... Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:04:29 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12975 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12876/when-memory-holds-more-weight-than-the-numbers/ This week I sat with a family who have held the same investment property for 42 years.  It hasn't produced a real return in over a decade. When I asked why they were keeping it, the answer was immediate. "It's been good to us."  Most people assume that's a financial decision. It isn't. It's a story decision.  Families don't just inherit assets. They inherit meaning. This property isn't simply a property.&nb... Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:10:08 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12876 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12866/discretionary-trust-minimum-tax-changes/ On 28 May I joined Kat Feeney on ABC Brisbane alongside Neal Dallas, a lawyer with Business Depot, to talk about something that has been coming up in a number of conversations I am having with clients at the moment. The Federal Government has announced its intention to introduce a 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028. It was part of the 2026–27 Budget, and I want to be clear: as I write this, it is not yet law. But if you have a discretionar... Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:30:40 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12866