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 an SMSF member dies. 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.

Most practitioners would be aware that superannuation is not covered by the deceased’s will and can only be paid to a limited group of beneficiaries. The practicalities are often still quite opaque.

The TBAR system revolves around the reporting of “events”, hence the name “events-based reporting”.

Your client became the “owner” of the pension on the day of her husband’s passing. This means the value of the pension counts towards her Total Superannuation Balance immediately in March 2018.

It depends on whether the pension reverted (continued automatically) to a reversionary beneficiary such as the spouse on death or stopped.