Binding death nomination help guide

Your super is likely to be one of your most significant assets, so it’s important to consider what will happen to it after you are gone.

Knowing the facts can help you make informed choices, such as how you would like to distribute your super and who will benefit.

Our regulations have been updated, allowing us to accept binding death nominations.

Submitting a binding death nomination is one way to make sure your super goes to the people you want to benefit when you pass away. You can replace or cancel your existing nomination at any time.

This guide explains what a binding death nomination is, and how you can submit one using our Binding death nomination form.

Topics include:

  1. What is a binding death nomination?
  2. Types of binding death nominations
  3. Nominating a beneficiary (or beneficiaries)
  4. How death benefits are taxed
  5. Submitting a binding death nomination

1. What is a binding death nomination?

A binding death nomination is a written direction from a member to their super fund directing the fund how the member wants some, or all, of their superannuation death benefits to be distributed.

If you do not have a valid binding death nomination when you pass away, GESB will pay your super death benefit to your estate. A binding death nomination allows payment to be made directly to people you have nominated without need for formal Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration (unless you nominate a personal legal representative. For more information, see ‘Nominating a beneficiary’ below).

If you are unsure if a binding death nomination is suitable for you, we recommend that you seek personal financial advice from a qualified and appropriately licensed financial adviser.

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2. Types of binding death nominations

The length of validity varies depending on the type of binding death nomination.

Non-lapsing

A non-lapsing binding death benefit nomination is a written direction made by you to the fund that doesn’t expire. You don’t need to renew a non-lapsing nomination.

Lapsing

A lapsing binding death benefit nomination is a written direction made by you to the fund which is valid for three years. We will contact you when your nomination is about to expire.

3. Nominating a beneficiary (or beneficiaries)

A beneficiary is the person (or people) you would like to receive your super benefit when you pass away. You can nominate more than one beneficiary.

You will need to ensure the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) you are nominating meet the criteria outlined below. If any nominee is ineligible at the time of your death, your entire nomination is considered invalid, and your benefit will be paid to your estate.

Your beneficiaries can include:

  • Your spouse (including de facto and same sex couples)
  • Your children (including step, adopted or ex-nuptial children)
    Note: if you nominate a child under the age of 18, your super balance may be paid into a trust account and a Trustee will have responsibility for the money until they turn 18.
  • Any person(s) financially dependent on you
  • Your estate (see note), or
  • An interdependent (someone who lives with you and shares a close personal relationship where one or both of you provide for the financial and domestic support and personal care of the other)

If you have multiple GESB accounts, you can nominate the same person(s) as beneficiaries for all your accounts, or you can distribute the benefit from different accounts to different beneficiaries.

  • Note about nominating your estate

    If you wish your super benefit to be paid to your estate, you don’t need to submit a binding death nomination naming the executor or administrator of your estate. Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration will still be required if you nominate your estate in a binding death nomination. As our standard process is to pay to your estate, should you wish 100% of your benefit to be paid to your estate, a binding death nomination is not necessary. For more information, please contact your Member Services Centre on 13 43 72.

  • Note for Retirement Income Pension members

    You’re unable to have both a reversionary beneficiary and a binding death nomination on the same account. If you already have a reversionary beneficiary in place and would prefer to have binding death nomination, you’ll need to close your current Retirement Income Pension account and commute your pension to a new account. Commuting your Retirement Income Pension account could have tax implications. Please call us on 13 43 72 for more information.

4. How death benefits are taxed

Generally, death benefits paid as a lump sum are tax free, if the benefit is paid to beneficiaries who are dependants for tax purposes.

Please note that the definition of a dependant for the purposes of deciding who can receive a death benefit is different to the definition of dependant for tax purposes. This means that tax is payable for a child over 18 unless they qualify as a financial dependant or interdependent.

If the death benefit is paid to a non-dependant, the taxed element will be subject to 17% tax and the untaxed element will be taxed at 32% if we have their tax file number, otherwise it will be taxed at 47%.1

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5. Submitting a binding death nomination

To submit a binding death nomination, complete our Binding death nomination form and post it to us.

Please ensure your beneficiaries named meet the criteria outlined above.

If you’re nominating more than one beneficiary, you need to make sure the allocated proportion of your benefits equals 100%. Note you can only nominate a percentage to two decimal places. If you are nominating three beneficiaries and would like to allocate your benefits as equally as possible, your allocation to meet the required 100% must be as follows:

  • Nominated beneficiary one - 33.33%
  • Nominated beneficiary two - 33.33%
  • Nominated beneficiary three - 33.34%

If you have more than one GESB account, you can include all your accounts on the same Binding death nomination form if the person(s) you’re nominating as the beneficiary is the same for all accounts.

If you want to distribute the benefit from different accounts to different beneficiaries, you will need to submit a separate Binding death nomination form for each account.

Changing or cancelling an existing binding death nomination

If you have an existing binding death nomination and want to change or cancel your nomination, you can complete and submit a new Binding death nomination form.

Once approved, this will override your previous nomination.

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Contact us

If you have any questions, please call us on 13 43 72 between 7.30am and 5.30pm (AWST), Monday to Friday or use our Live chat service.

1 The rates include 2% Medicare Levy.

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Page last updated 14 March 2024

Thank you for printing this page. Remember to come back to gesb.wa.gov.au for the latest information as our content is updated regularly. This information is correct as at 27 April 2024.