Death Benefit Dependant

A death benefit dependant is someone the superannuation law permits to receive your death benefit directly from the fund. Under the SIS Act this covers your spouse or de-facto partner, any child of any age, a person in an interdependency relationship with you, and anyone financially dependent on you. Only these people (or your legal personal representative) can be validly named in a Binding Death Benefit Nomination — nominate anyone else and it fails.

Knowing who qualifies as a dependant determines who you can name and who can claim. Example: Sophie wanted to leave her super to her sister, but a sister is not a death benefit dependant, so she instead directed it to her estate and gifted it through her Will. Be careful: the super-law definition of dependant is broader than the tax dependant definition, so someone may be entitled to receive a benefit yet still be taxed on it.