Advisers should create solutions which best address the individual client circumstances, and in cases where there is a self-managed super fund (SMSF) involved, it needs to be part of the overall estate plan, according to a law firm.
Cooper Grace Ward partner and SMSF Association specialist, Scott Hay-Bartlem, noted that the goal of good estate planning was to ensure that there would be no disputes after someone’s death, and so advisers had to understand that there was ‘no one fits all size’ solution.
“Every family is different, so as advisers we must work together and with the family to work out the solution that best fits their circumstances,” he said.
“And if there is a self-managed super fund (SMSF) involved, then that must be part of the overall estate plan.”
If estate planning involved an SMSF, it should be established whether giving the surviving trustee or trustees discretion to determine the recipient of a death benefit in the SMSF was the best solution.
“Being able to decide the appropriate course after death should not be thrown away lightly,” Hay-Bartlem stressed.
He also added that in cases where fund members decided to go for a binding death benefit nomination (BDBN), it would be necessary to follow the deed precisely or it would become useless.
