What she could have done was to not apply for the role of administrator, but left it to a professional trustee. However they would likely to have requested that the super be paid into the estate as well. But as there was no binding death benefits nomination in place the trustee of the fund could have chosen to pay mum still. Mum had lived with the son and there would have been an interdependency relationship so it is possible that the trustee could have paid all or some to mum. Mum would also have been able to take the matter to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (Which now has a new name) to get any decision by the trustee looked at.
Hi, I work for a very large super fund (that will remain nameless). The decisions around mortality claims are simply not made by the trustees themselves, but by dedicated staff who do nothing but process mortality applications. When it comes to lapsing/non-lapsing binding nominations, believe me, having seen first hand the negligence with which people treat their superannuation, non-lapsing nominations can be far too dangerous for a lot of people in the longer term.
I'm interested in your opinion Terry. Mcintosh vs Mcintosh. Yes, the son may have been able to place the mother down as a binding nomination under an interdependent relationship, but would this have really completely prevented the other spouses solicitor contesting the benefit being received directly to the spouse after the fund has paid?
The fund would have been out of the picture at that point and not involved in any following proceedings.
From my observation the vast majority of people walking around think that their super is sorted out because they have made a non-binding nomination. Non-binding nominations are the biggest waste of space and can lead people easily into having an impression that they have got things sorted out.
In the majority of cases without a BDBN the claims processors will try to do what the member/client has set out in any will if it can comply with the superannuation legislation. Normally if their is not a clear quick decision as to the most eligible dependent or dependents they will simply flick the benefits on to the estate to let the beneficiaries duke it out themselves. They do have a responsibility to look to pay eligible superannuation dependents first and foremost. Understand that they can only make decisions off the information provided to them by the potential beneficiaries. A lot of the time people have a very poor understanding of the eligibility criteria. I would highly suggest anyone who is involved in a claim as a beneficiary with a superannuation amount to contact the fund, talk to them specifically about your relationship to the deceased and ask to speak directly to the people handling the assessment, most of the time they will be more than happy to talk to you and will help you to ensure you submit everything they need.