The Murdochs made headlines when they settled their family battle recently, but you don’t need to be a billionaire to have trouble with siblings. Money and inheritance can bring out tensions in the best of families, and those fights can be exhausting and destructive.

As Donal Griffin, a Sydney estate lawyer at Legacy Law and trust family adviser, often reminds me, one of the big flashpoints is the discretionary family trust. They work well for a couple, but once the next generation comes along things get tricky. Imagine being told in your 50s that you now have to run a trust with your brothers and sisters – it’s no surprise sparks fly.

The Murdochs made headlines when they settled their family battle recently, but you don’t need to be a billionaire to have trouble with siblings.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

The Murdochs’ Nevada hearing, details of which were leaked to the media, showed how courts apply a black-letter approach when interpreting trust deeds. These are often signed without much thought, then forgotten until a dispute erupts.

It’s not unlike a shareholders’ agreement, which is ignored while business runs on consensus – until suddenly, it........

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