Super pension beneficiaries

Why you need to nominate a beneficiary

Nominating a beneficiary helps your super or pension benefits go to people important to you.

What benefits they receive in the event of your death depends on the type of super or pension account you had, including things like your account balance and relevant insurance benefits.

Check your beneficiaries

How to nominate a beneficiary

Step 1: Choose a beneficiary

Super benefits are paid as a lump sum to one or more people who are eligible to receive them. Your nomination must include any of the following:

your spouse (of the same sex or different sex, by marriage or de facto)
your children (biological, adopted and ex-nuptial, including your partner's children)
someone who’s financially dependent on you
someone you’re in an interdependent relationship with
your legal personal representative (that includes the executor of your Will, or the administrator of your estate).

Learn more about who you can nominate as a beneficiary

Step 2: Make a beneficiary nomination

There are two different types of binding nominations: lapsing and non-lapsing.

Unlike non-binding nominations, we're legally bound to pay your benefit as you have instructed, unless it is not valid at the time.

Switching from a non-binding to a binding nomination provides greater certainty.

Non-lapsing binding nomination

Non-lapsing nominations are valid until you change or revoke them, or something invalidates your nomination.

You can now make a non-lapsing nomination online.

Log in to your online account

Lapsing binding nomination

Lapsing nominations expire after three years. If your nomination isn’t renewed before it expires, it becomes a non-binding nomination.

Lapsing binding nominations must be submitted using a paper form.

Binding beneficiary form (PDF, 666 KB)

Step 3: Keep your nominations up to date

As things change over time, so might the people you’d prefer get your super benefits. Remember to regularly review your nominations, especially after major life events like marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or the death of a nominated beneficiary.

Changes in your personal circumstances can invalidate your binding nomination. For example, if you divorce your spouse or if a nominated beneficiary passes away before you, your nomination will no longer be binding. In such cases, we will determine who receives your benefit. You can check your current nomination on your online account.

Pension beneficiary nominations

The type of pension you have can determine how you choose a beneficiary, so nominating someone involves first learning how beneficiary rules apply to you.

Flexi Pension beneficiaries
Like super benefits, Flexi Pension benefits can be paid as a lump sum to a beneficiary by making a binding or non-binding nomination. But unlike super benefits, you also have the option of making a reversionary nomination to provide your beneficiary with regular income payments. These payments continue until the balance falls below $10,000. We then pay out the remaining balance as a lump sum.

Except for Beneficiary Income Stream members, all UniSuper Flexi Pension members have the option of choosing one person to be a reversionary beneficiary. You can nominate:

your spouse

your child, if:

they’re under 25 and financially dependent on you, or

have a disability according to the Disability Services Act 1986

someone who’s financially dependent on you

someone you’re in an interdependent relationship with.

In the event your nomination isn’t valid when you pass away – for example, if you divorce from a spouse – we’ll decide who receives your benefit as a lump sum.

To nominate a reversionary beneficiary for your Flexi Pension, complete and return the reversionary beneficiary form (PDF, 634 KB).
Defined Benefit Indexed Pension
If you have a spouse, they’ll automatically receive 62.5% of your pension as a regular payment for life.

If you have dependent children and/or children with a disability, they will also generally receive a portion of your pension.

For more information, refer to the Defined Benefit Indexed Pension PDS (PDF, 1.86 MB).
Joint Life Lifetime Income account
By nominating your spouse when you open your pension, they can receive your income payments as a reversionary pension when you die.

Your nomination is binding and can’t be changed.

Your nomination won’t receive payments if they’re no longer a valid beneficiary when you pass away.

If you and your spouse both pass away within the guarantee period, we’ll pay a residual lump sum amount to your or your spouse’s legal representative.

For more information, refer to the Lifetime Income PDS (PDF, 3.3 MB).
Single Life Lifetime Income account
If you pass away within the guarantee period, we’ll pay a residual lump sum amount to your legal personal representative.

For more information, refer to the Lifetime Income PDS (PDF, 3.3 MB).
Term Allocated Pension
Binding and non-binding nominations you make can be updated at any time.

If you made a reversionary nomination when you opened your account, your nomination is binding and can’t be changed.

Your reversionary nomination won’t receive payments if they aren’t a valid beneficiary when you pass away.

Income payments for reversionary beneficiaries will continue until the balance reaches zero.

Case studies

The case studies show the importance of having the right type of nomination depending on how you want your super benefits to be paid.

Rachel nominates her elderly parent

Rachel has no children with her de facto partner, Ethan. Having already nominated Ethan in her Will, she decides to make a binding nomination, so her super benefit is paid to her aging mother, Teresa as a financial dependent.

After Rachel passes away

Because Rachel didn’t support her financially, Teresa doesn’t meet the definition of a dependent under superannuation law. Although the nomination was binding, her mother is an invalid nomination, so we instead pay the super benefit to Ethan.

John nominates his wife and daughter

After John and Sarah celebrate the birth of Frankie, John decides to update his beneficiaries. He makes a non-binding nomination, leaving half of his super to Sarah and the other half to Frankie.

After John passes away

After considering John’s request, we learn that Frankie is still an infant. His non-binding nomination means we must decide on how best to pay the super benefit. We may decide to pay the whole benefit to Sarah, his wife instead as she is Frankie’s guardian.

Mina nominates selected family members

Mina is divorced with three children. She plans to leave her successful business to her eldest daughter, her home and super to her other daughter, and leaves nothing to her son as they no longer speak. To formalise this plan, she makes a non-binding nomination with her second daughter as the sole beneficiary.

After Mina passes away

After considering Mina’s request, we find three potential beneficiaries. Without a valid binding nomination in place, we must decide on how to best pay the super benefit. In this case, we may decide to pay each child equally, even though Mina was estranged from her son.

Emily nominates her three children

Emily has recently remarried and now lives with her new husband. Her non-binding nomination requests that her benefit is equally shared among the three adult children from her first marriage.

After Emily passes away

As Emily didn’t make a valid binding nomination, we must decide on how best to pay the super benefit. If none of her adult children were considered to be financially dependent on Emily, we could pay the full benefit to the surviving spouse, Ricardo. However, there may be circumstances where we may also consider a payment to the children, based on the information received from each individual.

How we decide who to pay

If you have a binding nomination in place when you pass away, we’ll validate that each person still qualifies as a beneficiary under superannuation law, and then simply make the payment in line with your nomination.

However, if you do not have a valid binding nomination in place, we will need to decide who to pay. Before this, we‘ll identify all of your potential beneficiaries and consider your preferences based on any prior nominations on record. In some circumstances, we may also need to notify all of your potential beneficiaries of our decision and give them an opportunity to object (referred to as claim staking).

This process may result in the super benefit not being paid until any objections are resolved, therefore, the fastest way to ensure your loved ones are paid as quickly and efficiently as possible, is to make a binding nomination and keep it up to date.

It's important to note that a binding nomination may be valid when you first complete it, however, if your personal circumstances change, then this might result in the existing nomination becoming invalid i.e. if you nominate your spouse and then later divorce.

Nominate a beneficiary

Log into your account to nominate a new beneficiary or update an existing one.

Check your beneficiaries

Get expert advice on beneficiary nominations

If you’d like support with a nomination, our super consultants can provide more information on basics like:

how beneficiaries work
who you can nominate
when you might change your nomination
tax, Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs income implications.

Chat to an adviser

Who you can nominate as a beneficiary

If you’re nominating multiple beneficiaries, ensure you allocate 100% of your benefit across your nominations. For example, you may nominate your spouse to receive 34% of your benefit and have your two children receive 33% each.

Your spouse
A spouse means a person either of the same sex or a different sex to whom you’re:

legally married, or

in a relationship that is registered under a relevant prescribed Australian State or Territory law, and

not legally married, but who lives with you on a genuine domestic basis as a couple.
Interdependent relationships
An interdependent relationship could include two people living together who can demonstrate mutual emotional support and some degree of financial and domestic support.

A interdependent relationship typically does not include friends, housemates, or when someone is paid to provide domestic support or personal care to another person.

It may also include a close personal relationship that does not meet the other criteria because one or both individuals have a physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disability.
Children
Valid child nominations include your child or your spouse’s child of any age, including adopted and foster children, and children defined under the Family Law legislation. If you’re in a de facto relationship, it also includes the children of your partner unless the relationship is over, or your partner has died, unless you continue to maintain a financial or interdependent relationship with the children.

If you nominate minor children as beneficiaries, the benefits may be paid to their legal guardian or held in trust until they reach a specified age, usually age 18, 21 or 25.
Legal representatives
On death, your legal personal representative (LPR) is the executor(s) of your Will, or the administrator of your estate.

If your benefit is paid to your LPR, your super or pension benefit then forms part of your estate and is distributed according to the terms of your Will.

We’ll determine who your LPR is if you pass away, so you don’t need to share their details with us beforehand.

If the benefit is paid to your estate and you don’t have a Will, it will be distributed according to the intestacy laws of your state or territory.

FAQs

What happens if I don’t nominate a beneficiary?

If you haven’t nominated a beneficiary, we will decide who receives your benefit. This could include your dependants and/or your legal personal representative — the executor or administrator of your estate.

If you don’t have any dependants or a legal personal representative when you die, we’ll work out who to pay your benefit to according to superannuation law. Our choice might not be your first preference, so having a nomination and keeping your beneficiary nomination up to date is essential.
How can I change or cancel my nomination?

If you’ve made a non-binding nomination, you can update your preferences any time through your online account. If you’ve made a binding nomination, you can change or cancel it by completing the Binding beneficiary nomination form (PDF, 666 KB).
Can I nominate a charity or non-dependant as a beneficiary?

You can’t nominate a charity directly. However, if your benefit is paid to your estate, your legal personal representative can distribute your benefits according to your Will which may include payments to charities or non-family members.
When is my binding nomination considered invalid?
For your nomination to remain valid, all the people you have nominated must still be dependants on the date of your death. For example, if you had nominated your spouse, but you have since divorced, your entire binding nomination would be invalid.

If one person no longer qualifies as a dependant, even if other people are still dependants, your entire nomination becomes invalid and we will decide how to pay your benefit. This is why it is important to periodically review your nominations to ensure each person continues to be a valid dependant.

A binding nomination is also considered invalid if:

the form is incorrectly signed or witnessed

you nominate a person who is not a dependant

the total beneficiary nomination does not equal 100%.

Additionally, a lapsing binding nomination is invalid if was made more than three years ago.
The role of the trustee

Under Australian super laws, the trustee of the fund must determine how super benefits are distributed (paid). It reviews each death claim and depending on the type of nomination made, will decide how and to whom, the super benefit will be paid.
How are super benefits taxed?
The taxation of super benefits from superannuation depends on several factors, including the recipient's relationship to the deceased and whether the benefits are paid as a lump sum or an income stream. There may be other financial or tax implications to consider when deciding how to complete your beneficiary nomination. We encourage you to seek advice from a qualified financial adviser before making any decisions.

Lump Sum Super benefits

If a beneficiary is your dependant for tax purposes, super benefits paid as a lump sum are generally tax-free.

If a beneficiary isn’t your dependant for tax purposes, we'll withhold tax from the taxable component. In these cases, up to 17% is withheld on any taxed element and 32% on any untaxed element. This tax treatment applies whether the super benefit is paid directly to a beneficiary or via a legal personal representative.

Income Stream Super benefits

Super benefits paid as a pension are generally only payable to a beneficiary who is an eligible dependant, such as a spouse. The rates of tax payable depend on whether the pension is paid from a capped defined benefit pension such as Defined benefit Index pension or Lifetime Income or an account-based pension such as Flexi Pension and other factors. For more information, read the relevant pension PDS.
What if my nominated beneficiary dies before me?

If your nominated beneficiary dies before you or isn’t a dependant when you die, we must decide on how best to pay your super benefits.