Why Super Is Different
Superannuation is held in trust — which means it sits outside your personal affairs and is not automatically governed by your Will. When you’re no longer here, the trustee of your super fund has the authority to distribute your balance. If you have a valid beneficiary nomination, they’re guided by it. If you don’t — or if your nomination has lapsed — they have discretion.
That discretion may not reflect your wishes.
For context: super is often the second-largest asset Australians accumulate after their home. Average balances for those aged 65–69 exceed $400,000. Without a current, valid nomination, there’s no guarantee it reaches who you intend.
The Four Types of Nominations
Always check directly with your fund — each has its own procedures and options.
A binding nomination legally requires the trustee to distribute your super to your nominated beneficiaries. It provides the highest certainty but must be renewed every three years (unless your fund offers a non-lapsing option) and must be witnessed by two people who are not themselves beneficiaries.
A non-binding nomination indicates your preference but gives the trustee final discretion. It doesn’t expire and is easier to set up — but offers less certainty that your exact wishes will be followed.
A reversionary nomination applies if you’re receiving an account-based pension — it allows that pension to continue automatically to your nominated dependant, providing immediate income continuity.
A non-lapsing binding nomination, where available, provides the certainty of a binding nomination without the three-year expiry. If your fund offers this, it’s worth serious consideration.
Who Can You Nominate?
Superannuation law restricts who you can name as a beneficiary: your spouse or de facto partner, your children of any age (including adopted and step-children), someone in an interdependency relationship with you, someone financially dependent on you, and your legal personal representative — your executor.
Nominating your legal personal representative is the only way to direct your super to people who aren’t eligible dependants. Your Will then governs how those funds are allocated within your estate.
When to Review
Review your super nominations after marriage, separation, divorce, or entering a de facto relationship. After the birth or adoption of a child. When a nominated beneficiary passes. After a significant change in financial circumstances. And at minimum every three years to ensure binding nominations remain valid.
This last point is where most people fall short. Binding nominations expire on a fixed schedule — many Australians have lapsed nominations without realising it. A quick check with your fund takes minutes.
Keeping It Organised with LifeReady
LifeReady’s Personal Digital Vault stores details of all your superannuation accounts, copies of current beneficiary nominations, fund contact information, and expiry dates for binding nominations — so nothing lapses without you knowing.
Record reminders can be set to alert you before a nomination expires, giving you time to renew before discretion passes to the trustee.
Binding superannuation nominations expire every three years. Most Australians don’t know when theirs last lapses. It might be time to check.
→ Download the LifeReady Checklist – Legal Documents section
→ Start your Digital Vault for free at app.lifeready.io/signup