As your super doesn’t form part of your will or estate, it isn’t automatically paid to your loved ones. That’s why it’s important to nominate your beneficiary, so that if anything happens to you, your super will go to the people you love.
NOMINATING YOUR SUPER BENEFICIARIES
To make your wishes known about who you want to get your super, you need to nominate your beneficiaries on your super funds ‘Non-lapsing Super Beneficiary Nomination Form’. It is called “non-lapsing” because your nomination stays valid until you revoke it or make a new one.
WHO CAN YOU NOMINATE?
You can only nominate your legal personal representative and/or your dependants. It’s important to get this right so that your nomination is valid.
Your legal personal representative is the person you appoint as the executor or administrator of your estate. Your dependants can be any of the following:
An interdependency relationship is where:
- You have a close relationship
- You live together
- One of you provides the other with financial support, and
- One of you provides the other with domestic support and personal care.
(Note you don’t need to meet conditions 2-4 if one of you has a disability.)
Relevant circumstances include:
- The length of the relationship
- Whether it’s a sexual relationship
- The ownership and use of property
- A shared life
- The care of children
- Public acknowledgement of the relationship
- Emotional support
- Whether the relationship is only one of convenience, and
- Evidence you both intended the relationship to be permanent.
If you want to nominate someone you have an interdependency relationship with, you should talk to your Pinnacle Advisor and consider completing a statutory declaration addressing these points.
HOW WILL IT BE PAID?
Your super benefit may be paid to your beneficiaries in different ways, so it’s worth knowing how this could affect them and whether this would impact the tax they need to pay.
If you nominate your legal personal representative, your super benefit will be paid according to your will or intestacy laws.
If you nominate one or more of your dependants, your super benefit will be paid directly to them. If someone is no longer a dependant, then their amount will be paid to your legal personal representative.
If you have nominated a child, the super benefit must be paid as a lump sum cash payment unless they:
- Are under 18
- Are under 25 and financially dependent on you, or
- Have a certain type of disability
BE SURE TO REVIEW YOUR NOMINATION REGULARLY
It is important to review your nomination regularly to make sure it is still appropriate. If you marry, separate or divorce, start a de facto relationship, have a child, or if someone you nominate has died, or is no longer dependent on you, then you should update it.
SPEAK TO YOUR PINNACLE ADVISOR
This is general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances. It’s important you speak to your Pinnacle Advisor for more information on non-lapsing death benefit nominations and your personal estate planning needs.
Source: Colonial First State