Whilst having prepared a Will and/or an Enduring Power of Attorney is an importance part of estate planning, many people are not aware that having things such as an Advance Health Directive, a Superannuation Binding Death Benefit Nomination or a Superannuation Advance Transfer Directive in place are also important to consider in estate planning.
In conjunction with your accountant and financial adviser we can assist you in implementing various strategies which are tailored to your individual circumstances, ensuring that your family’s needs and requirements are met.
Advance Health Directive
An Advance Health Directive is a document that states your wishes and directions for future health care and medical treatments that you may or may not want to receive. This document comes into effect only after you are unable to make your own decisions.
Superannuation Binding Death Benefit Nomination
In the event of your death a Superannuation Binding Death Benefit Nomination allows you to direct the trustee of the superannuation fund who is to receive your superannuation benefits as superannuation is not automatically an estate asset.
If you do not have a Superannuation Binding Death Benefit Nomination in place the trustee of the superannuation fund has a discretion as to where your superannuation benefits will be paid.
In order for a Superannuation Binding Death Benefit Nomination to be binding, it must be ‘valid’. One of the requirements for validity is that only ‘dependants’ can be nominated. Depending on your circumstances you can decide to nominate one dependant or a number of dependants. A dependant includes:-
– A spouse (including defacto, opposite and same sex)
– Children of any age (including adopted or ex-nuptial)
– Any person financially dependent on you
Superannuation Advance Transfer Directive
There are different taxation treatments of your superannuation benefits on your death. The tax payable depends on:-
– Whether your superannuation benefit is paid to your dependants; or
– Whether your superannuation benefit is paid to non-dependants.
However, if your superannuation benefits are paid to you before your death no tax should be payable regardless of who the ultimate recipient of the benefit is.
We can assist you in preparing an Advance Transfer Directive which is designed to allow your attorneys to redeem your superannuation benefits before your death so that the benefits can form part of your estate assets to save any tax being payable on the benefits.