Independent Legal Advice for SMSF Borrowing

Most SMSF lenders will not settle until each guarantor has had independent legal advice and a certificate has been signed. We provide the advice and the certificate.

  • Certificates in the form your lender requires
  • By video or in person
  • Usually arranged within a few days
  • NSW, VIC, QLD and WA
Arrange your advice

Why the lender asks for it

What the certificate is actually for

Under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement the lender's recourse is limited to the property itself. To get comfortable with that, most lenders require the members, and sometimes a related company, to guarantee the loan personally. A guarantee is a serious undertaking given for someone else's debt, so the lender wants evidence that each guarantor received independent advice before signing and understood what they were agreeing to.

The certificate protects the lender. The advice protects you. They happen in the same meeting, but they are not the same thing, and the meeting is worth treating as more than a formality.

More on ILA certificates

What we cover

What we go through with you

What you are guaranteeing

The scope of the obligation: which debts are covered, whether it extends to future advances, and how long the guarantee continues.

What limited recourse does not mean

A common misunderstanding: the limit protects the fund's other assets. It does not protect a guarantor who has signed personally.

What is at risk

In plain terms: what the lender can pursue if the fund cannot meet the repayments, and in what order.

The documents in front of you

Read, not skimmed: the guarantee, the security and any related undertakings, including anything unusual the lender has added.

Advice given separately

Independent means independent: where there is more than one guarantor, each person is entitled to be advised without the others present.

Your questions, before you sign

No pressure to proceed: the point of the meeting is that you understand it. Deciding not to sign is a legitimate outcome.

Lender waiting on a certificate?

Book a time

How it works

Arranging it

01

Send us the pack

Forward the loan and guarantee documents together with the certificate form your lender wants used.

02

We review beforehand

We read the documents in advance, so the meeting is spent on your position rather than on us reading.

03

The meeting

By video or in person, one guarantor at a time, for as long as it takes to answer your questions.

04

Certificate signed and returned

We complete the lender's certificate, return it, and confirm to you in writing what was advised.

Why use a property firm for this

We know the lenders

SMSF lenders each use their own certificate forms and their own requirements. We have seen most of them.

We understand the structure

The guarantee sits inside a borrowing arrangement with a custodian and a bare trust. The advice is better when the adviser understands the whole arrangement.

It does not hold up settlement

An outstanding certificate is a common reason SMSF settlements slip. We turn these around quickly.

Explore:

The rest of the SMSF work sits across these pages.

SMSF property law services SMSF property purchase Bare trust conveyancing Bare trust and custodian setup ILA certificates Fixed fees

Questions we get asked

Why does the lender need me to see a separate lawyer?
Because you are guaranteeing someone else's debt. Where a person gives a guarantee for a borrower they are connected to, a lender that has not ensured independent advice was given can find the guarantee harder to enforce later. Requiring a certificate is how lenders manage that. It is standard on almost every SMSF borrowing arrangement.
Can the lawyer acting on the purchase give the advice?
Often not. Lenders frequently require the adviser to be someone other than the firm acting on the transaction or for the fund. Requirements differ between lenders, so the certificate form needs checking. If we are acting on your purchase we will tell you plainly whether we can also give the independent advice on that file.
Can it be done by video?
Usually yes. Most lenders accept advice given by video conference, and many certificates are now signed electronically. A few still require a face to face meeting or a wet signature, which is why we check the specific form before booking.
How long does the appointment take?
Typically 30 to 45 minutes per guarantor, once we have read the documents beforehand. If the arrangement is unusual, or if you have a lot of questions, it takes as long as it takes. We do not shorten the meeting to fit a schedule.
What if I decide not to sign?
That is a legitimate outcome and it is your decision. Our role is to make sure you understand what you would be taking on, not to get the certificate signed. If you do not want to proceed we will say so to the lender in the appropriate terms.
What does it cost?
It is a fixed fee per guarantor, quoted before the appointment. The fee is on our pricing page, and it does not change depending on how long the meeting runs.

Send us the documents

Forward the guarantee, the loan documents and the lender's certificate form, and tell us who needs advising. We will come back with a time.

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