The Cinderella like tale of Munro v Munro and how a simple preventable mistake, broke the hearts of his two daughters

To really understand this real-life story, to need to understand two simple legal facts about self-managed super funds:

• The trustee of an SMSF has discretion who to give the balance of your SMSF account to when you pass away.
• To remove this discretion and ‘bind the decision of the trustee to follow your instructions’, you need to sign a legally recognised Binding Nomination Form, making your wishes clear and override the discretion of the trustee.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Who's your super beneficiary?

With superannuation now becoming a compulsory part of life, many people soon find they have significant amounts in their super growing at 9.5% per year - the minimum compulsory amount all employers are required to withhold from your income and deposit into your super account, for your retirement.

In reality, if you passed away today, the value of your super account could be significantly higher because of a ‘hidden’ life insurance component.

The question every blended family wants answered is often

Does a child in a blended family lose their rights to an inheritance if their step-parent dies?

A Contractual Will Agreement might provide the answer to this difficult question.

Many blended Australian families wanting greater certainty in their estate planning choose to make a mirror Will with their spouse - effectively leaving everything to each other.

Life insurance inside your super has special rules you need to understand - especially if you're a blended family.

You need to let your super fund (and life insurance company) know who you want as a beneficiary to receive any payout made upon your death.

This is especially important if your life insurance is owned by your super fund because there are additional rules you need to understand.  If you don't, then you'll leave a whole lot of unnecessary pain and problems for your survivors.