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Guidance Regarding the Payment of Death Benefits

The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, which can resolve disputes between large superannuation funds and their members, recently provided some guidance regarding the payment of death benefits from superannuation funds, possibly because the largest category of complaints the Tribunal determined at review last year (44.8%) was death complaints.

This guidance is reproduced below:

"There are some common misconceptions about superannuation death benefits that can result in unexpected outcomes for the beneficiaries of a death benefit, and may result in a complaint being made to the Tribunal.
The most common misconception, arguably, relates to the purpose of superannuation.
Broadly speaking, the purpose of superannuation is to provide income in retirement to members and their dependants; it does not form part of a person’s estate.
Accordingly, a superannuation death benefit should be paid to dependants and those who had a legal or moral right to look to the deceased member for financial support had they not died.
The ability of a superannuation fund to pay a death benefit directly to a dependant rather than to the estate has a number of advantages.
Firstly, it ensures that the benefit is paid directly for the benefit of the dependants and is not available to creditors who would be paid first from the assets of the estate.
Secondly, it can usually reach the beneficiaries quicker than if a grant of probate or letters of administration has to be obtained and the estate called in and distributed.
Thirdly, as a general rule, superannuation death benefits are protected from bankruptcy.
Therefore, even if the deceased member was bankrupt, or if the estate is insolvent, funds can be paid direct to the dependants to replace the income stream that may be lost as a consequence of the death.
However, if you would like to ensure that your superannuation is distributed a certain way then it is important to find out if your superannuation fund has the option for a binding nomination and if so, ensure you meet the requirements, including renewing your binding nomination every three years."