Battle of the giants: binding death benefit nomination vs reversionary pension

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Binding death benefit nominations and reversionary pensions are two means available to members of an SMSF to select who is to receive their death benefit. But what happens if a

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18 Mar 2016

Wife who murdered husband can’t claim on estate

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In the recent case of Edward v State Trustees Limited [2016] VSCA 28 a wife who killed her husband in self-defence was not allowed to receive her husband’s estate under

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16 Mar 2016

SMSF sector needs to be very wary of digitally signing trust deeds

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Peter Townsend is recommending that SMSF trust deeds signed electronically in the eastern states are revisited and signed with a wet signature on an actual deed document as required by

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25 Feb 2016

Sleeper issues of Murray Review: CIPRs and legacy investment products

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The ‘known unknown’ is the comment by the Review to consider aligning the earnings tax between accumulation and retirement phases and to better integrate super and age pension systems. While

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29 Oct 2015

ATO confirms deadline for SMSFs with non-commercial LRBAs

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The ATO has effectively given SMSFs with non-commercial LRBAs a period of grace to either restructure the terms of the arrangement so that they are on commercial terms or to

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23 Oct 2015

Court declines to make super splitting order – as split was to a third party

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Stant’s case [2015] FamCA 734 Can the Super Splitting provisions of the Family Law Act be used to split a husband’s super interest with a third party? The Family Court

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08 Oct 2015

Legislative changes to Victorian Enduring Power of Attorney

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Thinking of making an enduring power of attorney? Be aware that there has been some recent changes to the law for enduring powers of attorney made in Victoria since 1

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25 Sep 2015

Who gets my super when I die?

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For many people it might come as a surprise to learn that the most important estate planning tool for dealing with the payment of their interest in a superannuation fund

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01 Sep 2015

7 Reasons Why ASIC’s $200,000 minimum for an SMSF is not in the client’s best interest

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While there are a number of useful features of ASIC’s new guidance papers on SMSF advice (Information Sheets 205 and 206) , comments relating to the preferred minimum for an

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27 Jul 2015

‘Super Family Feud’ case where three children were in a dispute over father’s super death benefit

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Brian Hor from Townsends law discusses a classic ‘Super Family Feud’ case where three children were in a dispute over their father’s super death benefit, which could all have been

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09 Jul 2015