Unless you receive good advice, there’s a good chance you don’t know who will end up with your super, or whether your estate will have to pay death benefits tax on that amount. Today The Age reported on a story that highlights a type of worst-case scenario: a 23 year old woman died in a car crash had made a superannuation binding death nomination in favour of her mum, but her then 68 year old fiancé, who she’d been living with for only four months, was declared the legal recipient of the whole of her super and attached insurance – $180,000. The super fund refused to give a cent to the deceased woman’s mother. Worse – the fiancé was a Magistrate at the court the deceased woman worked at as a clerk. Worse still – within only months of her death, the fiancé went back to his partner of 18 years. The woman’s mother is now appealing the decision to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
This outcome could have been easily avoided if the woman had been advised to nominate her legal personal representative as the recipient of her super, then it would have been distributed according to her Will – though there would likely be death benefits tax payable and it may possibly be open to a Family Provision Claim depending on the relationships and circumstances. However, advice people receive about super varies hugely depending on your relationships and finances – there is no ‘one size fits all’. The thing to note is that super is tricky and often non-intuitive. It’s important that decisions about your super fit in with your Will, Enduring Power of Attorney and other financial arrangements. Give me a call, or complete my START YOUR WILL form, so that I can make you aware of your options so that you can ensure your super ends up in the right hands. Donna Farrell, Principal Lawyer, AT YOUR WILL Mobile Lawyer Disclaimer: The content of this post is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. This post should not be relied upon as legal, financial, accounting or tax advice.