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Jeffrey Hutton is a Morningstar contributor.

As iron ore heiress Gina Rinehart battles her three children for control of a $10 billion trust, popularity of the asset structure may be set to grow this year.

That's because lower limits on how much you can stash into superannuation may have some families scouting around for alternatives on what to do with the extra money, financial planners say.

While no one wanted to comment publicly on the details of where the Rineharts went wrong, what emerged were some handy pointers on who should set up a trust and how to do it.

"Trusts aren't as tax effective as a super fund but there are fewer limits on how much money can go in and out of it as well," says Andrew Baker, Perpetual's state manager NSW in the company's private wealth business unit.

Inquiries on how to set up trusts is on the rise, Baker says.

"A lot of higher net worth people, once they think they have enough money, they want to make sure their grandkids are okay."

And that's where a lot of trusts originate - transferring income in a family. One example is grandparents smoothing the way for grandchildren to enter private school, but also seeing that children get a share of the wealth, but not too much.

The amount anyone under 50 with less than $500,000 in superannuation can contribute at the concessional 15 per cent rate falls from 1 July this year to $25,000. Setting up a trust also provides a bit of diversification when it comes to how a family's assets are structured, Baker says.

"It's a progression. They want to make sure they have enough money going into super. As the super caps roll off and they think they have enough money in there, they turn to the next generation and think about wealth transfer and diversification of how their assets are structured," Baker says.

"That's where trusts come in."

So how much do you need? Baker reckons between $300,000 and $500,000. Anyone thinking of setting up a trust should already have half a million in super, Baker says

At tax consultant Nexia, Sean Urquhart, who is a partner at the firm, says initial start up will cost about $2500 and a similar amount each year in maintenance fees.

Trusts transfer ownership of assets to trustees who care for them as directed in your trust deed and can be a good way of separating physical assets from business operations.

"If you're an accountant and the building you own is the building you work out of, it's probably best to have that in a trust in case clients come after you," Urquhart says.

Your clients may still eventually get at your assets but it's harder, Urquhart says.

Having two people act as the appointer of the trustee would act as a veto, helping ensure you hang on to your assets even if those angry clients, or children, boot out one as part of a lawsuit.