In a recent article (here) my colleague Annie Dawson provided her top 5 tips when it comes to commuting death benefit pensions. But what are the tips and traps to watch right at the start – when the pensioner first dies?

There are not only special rules about who can receive a death benefit pension but there are also special rules around taking lump sums (partial commutation) or stopping these types of pensions altogether (full commutation). Here are our top 5 tips.

Binding death benefit nominations are legally binding instructions about how a member wants their super dealt with on death. Done properly, they can be an invaluable tool but done badly they are a dangerous weapon. How can you avoid the pitfalls?

My client, who is under age 60, would like to take a lump sum payment from a death benefit pension. Are they allowed and if so, how will the lump sum be taxed?

My client recently died. I know superannuation death benefits need to be dealt with “as soon as practicable” after death but how long is “as soon as practicable”?

There are many issues to think about when it comes to the death of a SMSF member. But what are the special impacts that apply when the fund has individual trustees?

My client has chosen her spouse as her attorney in the event that she loses mental capacity but her adult children will be the executors of her estate on her death. Could this arrangement cause complexities for her SMSF on her incapacity or death?

A key change introduced in the major 2017 amendments was a new ability to rollover death benefits. But a gap in the legislation made this unworkable for some. A legislative fix was finally tabled in parliament in the final sitting days of 2019.

Does ECPI continue on my reversionary pension even though it will put me over my Transfer Balance Cap?

The term “as soon as practicable” appears several times in tax and superannuation law – it’s never defined and often has different meanings depending on the context.

There does not appear to be any restriction in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act or Regulations (SIS) which would prevent a person acting under an EPOA from completing and signing a BDBN.

The 1 July 2017 changes to superannuation pensions introduced a new rule of thumb – most people can only convert $1.6m to a retirement phase pension over their lifetime.