Is your super going to the right person? Beneficiary Nominations Explained
Somewhere in your super fund's records is a beneficiary nomination form you might have filled in during your first week at a job, twenty years and two relationships ago. You might never have filled it in at all.
That form, not your will, decides who receives your super when you die. Done correctly and kept up to date, it puts you in charge. Invalid or out of date, it hands the decision to your super fund.
Already a Firefly client?
Your super nominations will be accurate as of your last review. But if life has changed lately (a separation, a new partner, a new grandchild, a windfall) and you haven't told us, please contact us.
In this article:
Super nominations in the spotlight
Your will doesn't cover your super
How to leave your super to someone who isn't a dependant
The four types of super nominations
One more for retirees: the reversionary pension
Five situations that catch people out
Everyone needs a will (yes, everyone)
Your 10-minute super nomination check
The bottom line on super beneficiary nominations
Super nominations in the spotlight
The ABC recently ran a news story that shows exactly what's at stake. A man had listed his two nieces on the death benefit nomination form with his super fund, expecting the money to be split equally between them when he passed away.
But the nomination wasn't binding. That meant the fund, not him, had the final say. The fund reviewed the competing claims and awarded the entire $130,000 payout to his estranged son. The fund acted within the law. The form he signed counted for nothing.
That family is far from alone. Research from Super Consumers Australia found more than 15.5 million Australians have no binding death benefit nomination on their super. And when a fund receives claims from multiple family members, the payout process can drag on for years.
Your will doesn't cover your super
Your will speaks for your estate: the house, the savings, the car. Your super isn't in there. It sits in a trust, run by your super fund's trustee. When you die, the trustee pays your super to someone. The only say you get is through a beneficiary nomination, the form you lodge with your fund.
No valid nomination? The trustee decides who gets your money. They'll usually look at your relationships and dependants, and they may well land on the person you'd have chosen. Or they may not. Either way, it wasn't your call, and your family can wait a long time while the fund works it out. ASIC's review of death benefit claims found that claims with no nomination, or a non-binding one, took the longest to pay.
This form reaches further than most people realise. If your life insurance is held inside super, and for most Australians it is, that payout follows the same rules. So this form might be directing your super balance plus an insurance payout of several hundred thousand dollars. We covered this in our personal insurance guide, and it's worth repeating: the beneficiary form matters as much as the policy.
Who can receive your super
Superannuation law has a guest list for who can receive your super. You can only nominate:
our spouse or de facto partner (including same-sex partners)
Your children (any age, including adopted children and stepchildren)
A financial dependant (someone who relies on you financially)
Someone in an interdependency relationship with you (you live together and support each other)
Your legal personal representative, which means your estate*
How to leave your super to someone who isn't a dependant
Parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, best mates and charities don't count as dependants under superannuation law, so your fund can't pay any of them directly. There's one path around it: nominate your legal personal representative (some funds simply call it "your estate"). Your super is then paid into your estate, and your will directs how it is distributed from there.
This puts your will in charge of your super, so both documents - your super nomination and your will- have to be up-to-date. The super nomination sends the money to your estate, and the will says who gets it. Miss either half and the plan falls over.
The four types of super beneficiary nominations
There are four ways your super nomination can be set up.
That is what ongoing financial advice is for. We get to know the full picture, help you stay accountable and give you clear, considered advice through life’s big decisions and the smaller ones too.
No nomination
The trustee decides. Not recommended.
Non-binding nomination
You tell the fund your preference, and the trustee can take it or leave it. It's a suggestion, not an instruction. Not recommended.
Binding nomination (lapsing)
The super fund must follow your instruction, as long as the nomination is valid. The catch: it expires every three years. Forget to renew it, and you're quietly back to square one, with the super fund deciding.
Binding non-lapsing nomination
This is the gold standard of super nominations. The super fund must follow your instruction and the nomination stands until you change it.
A binding nomination has some paperwork rules. It generally needs to be signed and dated in front of two adult witnesses who aren't beneficiaries, and every person you nominate has to be on the guest list above. Name someone ineligible and the whole nomination can fail.
One more for retirees: the reversionary pension
If you've flipped your super into pension phase and you have a partner, there's a smarter option again. A reversionary pension means that if you die, your pension simply continues being paid to your partner. No claim, no waiting, no trustee deliberations. The income just keeps flowing at the hardest possible time. If you're drawing a pension and you're not sure whether yours is reversionary, that's a question worth asking.
Five situations that catch people out
Certain life changes and situations mean your super nomination needs to be updated. If you don't, your super and your life insurance could end up with the wrong person.
Divorced, and the form still names your ex. Divorce cancels a lot of things. Your binding super nomination isn't one of them. If your ex is still named and the nomination is valid, your ex gets paid, and that includes any life insurance inside your super. Your kids can't fix it afterwards. The fix: update your nomination the moment the relationship status changes.
Separated, but not yet divorced. Murkier still. A separated spouse can still qualify as your spouse under super law. If your nomination names them, or you have no nomination at all, the person you're separating from may have a strong claim. The fix: get advice now, not after the divorce comes through.
Single, and you want it to go to your nieces and nephews. You can't nominate them directly, no matter how much you adore them. You need to nominate your legal personal representative and have a will that leaves your super where you want it. No valid will, no plan. The fix: the nomination and the will, done together.
A blended family. Second marriage, kids from earlier relationships, maybe a family trust in the mix. This is where nominations, wills and tax all tangle together, and where the biggest family fallouts happen. The fix: this one requires professional advice, from a financial adviser and an estate planning lawyer working together.
A retired couple in pension phase. A standard binding nomination works, but a reversionary pension is usually the cleaner path, because the income continues automatically. The fix: ask your financial adviser (or your fund) whether your pension is reversionary.
Everyone needs a will (yes, everyone)
Your super nomination handles your super. Your will handles everything else, and around 60% of Australian adults don't have one.
Die without a valid will in WA, and the Administration Act decides who gets what. Your spouse doesn't automatically receive everything. Strangers in the government use a formula and apply it to your family, with zero interest in what you would have wanted.
The good news: getting a will is easier than most people think.
Simple situation? There are reputable online will services, like Willed, that cost a few hundred dollars.
Complex situation? Blended family, family trust, a business, a child with a disability. See an estate planning lawyer. It costs more, and it's worth every cent, because these are exactly the estates that end up in dispute.
Two quick footnotes on wills.
Getting married generally invalidates your existing will, so a new marriage means a new will.
And in WA there are two more documents worth doing at the same time as your will: an enduring power of attorney (who manages your money if you can't) and an enduring power of guardianship (who makes medical and lifestyle decisions if you can't).
Your 10-minute super nomination check
- Log in to every super fund you have, including that old industry fund from two jobs ago
- Check whether you've nominated a beneficiary at all
- Check who it is. Is that still the right person, today, in this chapter of your life?
- Check what type it is. Binding, or just a preference the super fund can ignore?
- Check whether it's lapsed. A binding nomination older than three years may have expired
- If you're in pension phase with a partner, check whether your pension is reversionary
Most funds let you view your nomination online in minutes, and updating it is either a quick form or a few clicks. It costs nothing. The only expensive option is not doing it.
The bottom line on super beneficiary nominations
If you want your super to end up with the right people, having a binding, non-lapsing super nomination is…for your loved ones.
If you're a Firefly client, your super nominations will be accurate as of your last review. But if life has changed lately (a separation, a new partner, a new grandchild, a windfall) and you haven't told us, please contact us.
If you aren’t a client and you have that sinking feeling your nomination is not up-to-date, take 10 minutes to do a super nomination check.
Based in Perth, Firefly Financial provides financial planning for Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, the quiet achievers and the life lovers. Book a chat.
Cheat sheet
Super beneficiary nominations
Who can receive your super
- Your spouse or de facto partner (including same-sex partners)
- Your children (any age, including adopted & stepchildren)
- A financial dependant (someone who relies on you financially)
- Someone in an interdependency relationship with you (you live together and support each other)
- Your legal personal representative, which means your estate*
The four types of super nominations
The super fund decides who gets your super.
A suggestion, not an instruction. The super fund can ignore it.
The super fund must follow it, but it expires every three years.
The super fund must follow it, and it stands until you change it.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
No. Super sits outside your estate and is paid by your fund's trustee, not your executor. The only way your will controls your super is if you make a valid binding nomination directing it to your legal personal representative, which pays it into your estate. Otherwise the trustee pays it under superannuation law, regardless of what your will says.
-
Only your spouse or de facto partner, your children, a financial dependant, someone in an interdependency relationship with you, or your legal personal representative (your estate). Parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, friends and charities can't receive super directly. To benefit them, nominate your estate and direct the money through your will.
-
The fund's trustee decides who receives it. They'll consider your dependants and relationships, but the outcome is their call, not yours, and these claims typically take the longest to pay. Some funds apply a set approach, a bit like the formula used when someone dies without a will. A binding nomination removes the guesswork.
-
No. Divorce can invalidate parts of your will, but it does not cancel a binding super nomination. If your ex is still validly named, they can be paid your super and any life insurance held inside it. After any separation or divorce, updating your super nomination should sit right next to updating your will.
-
A binding nomination legally directs the trustee to pay the people you've named, provided it's valid. A non-binding nomination is only a preference, which the trustee can consider and then override. Standard binding nominations lapse every three years unless renewed; many funds also offer a non-lapsing version that stands until you change it.
-
Contact your super fund or log in to their member portal. Many funds let you update a non-binding nomination online, while binding nominations usually need a form signed in front of two adult witnesses who aren't beneficiaries. It's free, and it usually takes minutes. If you have several funds, update every one of them.
-
Often, yes. A spouse, a child under 18 or a financial dependant generally receives super tax-free, but a financially independent adult child can pay tax of up to 15% plus the Medicare levy on the taxable component. Good advice can legitimately reduce that bill, which is one more reason estate planning and super planning belong together.
-
Mostly, but GESB has its own quirks and the details differ by scheme. Binding death nominations are available, including a non-lapsing option, and if any person you've named is ineligible when you die, GESB treats the whole nomination as invalid and pays the benefit to your estate. As GESB specialists, we check exactly what your scheme allows and make sure your nomination does what you intend.
Join Frankly Speaking
Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter - where the team at Firefly Financial tells it like it is about all things money, life and everything in between.
This information is current as at 1 September 2026.
Kalfocus Pty Ltd AR No. 463978 is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Firefly Financial Pty Ltd AFSL No. 700033, ABN 88 687 477 612. General Advice Warning: Any advice in this article is general advice only and does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. It does not represent legal, tax, or personal advice and should not be relied on as such. You should obtain financial advice relevant to your circumstances before making any decisions.