Before transferring property to a family member, it feels as if this is one of the simplest kinds of title transfer. Afterall,there is no need for an agent, auction, or negotiation with a stranger on the other side of the deal. In reality, it’s still a legal transaction, and the method you choose changes the paperwork you need, tax, and the time taken to complete the process. Drawing on the family transfers we handle for clients across Victoria and New South Wales, here are the five recognised ways to do it in Australia, and what each one actually involves.
1. Gifting the Property
Gifting means transferring ownership with no money exchange. It’s often used by parents wanting to help a child buy their first home without the child having to take on a mortgage for the full value. Even so, it still requires formal paperwork, usually a deed of gift or a Transfer of Land document signed by both parties, and it still needs to be lodged with the relevant land titles office. A conveyancer should draft this documentation, since an informally worded gift deed can be challenged later, particularly if other family members later dispute the transfer.
What catches people out is assuming “no money” means “no tax.” Under the ATO’s market value substitution rule, if you gift property to a family member, you’re treated as if you sold it at full market value for capital gains tax purposes, even though you received nothing. This liability sits with the person giving the property, not the one receiving it. Stamp duty works the same way in most states. Victoria’s State Revenue Office assesses duty on market value regardless of the price paid, and outside a handful of exemptions (such as a spousal transfer of the family home), a straightforward gift from parent to child doesn’t qualify for relief.
2. Adding a Family Member to the Title
Adding a spouse, partner or adult child to the certificate of title creates joint ownership, either as joint tenants or tenants in common, and the two structures behave very differently. Under joint tenancy, ownership automatically passes to the surviving owner if one person dies, regardless of what their will says. Under tenants in common, each person holds a defined, separate share, which can be willed to someone else entirely.
The process still needs to go through a conveyancer, who updates the title and handles the legal paperwork correctly. Duty is generally calculated on the value of the share being transferred rather than the whole property, which is why this option is often used to formalise shared ownership between family members rather than hand over an entire asset outright.
3. Selling the Property to a Family Member
A sale to a relative follows the same process as a standard property sale. You still need a proper contract of sale, and both parties should use a conveyancer to manage the documentation, settlement and any obligations tied to the transaction, including any existing mortgage that needs to be discharged or transferred.
Selling below market value doesn’t reduce your tax bill. The same principle covered above applies here too: duty and CGT are assessed on the property’s true market value, not the discounted price, because the transaction is between related parties rather than two independent buyers negotiating freely. Families sometimes assume a discounted family sale avoids these costs, and that assumption is one of the most common and expensive mistakes in family transfers. A written contract also protects both sides if the relationship breaks down later, which is worth remembering even when the deal feels informal.
4. Transferring Through a Family Trust
A family trust works differently to the first three options because legal ownership doesn’t move to the family member directly. Instead, a trustee holds the property, and family members benefit from it as beneficiaries, whether that’s living in it, receiving income from it, or eventually receiving a distribution. The trustee retains control and legal responsibility for the property in the meantime, which is the key trade-off against a direct transfer.
This route suits families thinking about asset protection or longer-term succession planning rather than an immediate handover, for example holding a property on behalf of grandchildren until they’re older, or shielding a family asset from a beneficiary’s future creditors or relationship breakdown. Setting one up properly means engaging a solicitor or accountant alongside your conveyancer, since trust structures carry their own compliance requirements, and the upfront setup costs are usually higher than a straightforward gift or sale.
5. Passing It On Through a Deceased Estate
The fifth way isn’t planned in the same sense as the others. It happens when a property owner dies, and the property passes to beneficiaries through their will, or under intestacy rules if there’s no will. This route goes through probate, and the transfer is generally handled by the executor once a Grant of Probate has been issued by the Supreme Court.
Unlike voluntary gifts or sales, transfers to a named beneficiary that strictly follow the terms of the will get concessional treatment, though the details differ by state. In Victoria, a genuine deceased estate transfer is exempt from duty entirely under the Duties Act 2000. In New South Wales, the same type of transfer attracts only a nominal $50 duty under the Duties Act 1997, rather than a full exemption. Either way, the process still needs correct documentation and lodgement, so a conveyancer experienced in estate transfers makes the difference between a smooth handover and a delayed one.
Winding Up
Each of these five paths gets your family to the same outcome, keeping property in the family, but the steps, timeframes and costs involved are genuinely different. Getting the method wrong, you didn’t know how to apply it, can be an expensive mistake to unwind later. To avoid such costly mistakes, it’s wiser to have experienced professionals by your side.
The licensed conveyancers at Easy Link Conveyancing help families across Melbourne and Sydney choose the right transfer method and manage the paperwork end-to-end. Get in touch with our team for a thorough understanding of the conveyancing procedures required for your specific property transaction.