DIY Super For Dummies, 3rd Australian Edition

Chapter 23

Divorce and Your SMSF

In This Chapter

Choosing between three super options when divorcing

Splitting super interests on relationship breakdown

Looking after your SMSF, or moving to another fund, beyond the divorce

I f your marriage or de facto relationship breaks down, you have to decide who gets the house and other assets. You also have to negotiate what happens to another significant family asset — your superannuation, and what then happens to your self-managed super fund (SMSF).

Taking control of your super, and protecting your financial future, is important at any time, but it becomes even more important when a relationship breaks down. When working out your property settlement, your super and your spouse’s super is treated like any other property in the marriage or de facto relationship.

When you run a SMSF and your relationship breaks down, you have to consider two important issues:

• How will your super benefits, and your spouse’s super benefits, be split, if at all?
• Who gets to keep the SMSF, and what happens to your spouse’s benefits if you maintain control of the SMSF?

In this chapter, I discuss how superannuation can be divided after a relationship break-up. ...