Although some superannuation funds do not offer this option, there is generally recognized one exception to the decision making power of the trustee of your superannuation fund regarding the distribution of your superannuation benefits, that is where a valid and binding Death Benefit Nomination has been made (where it is not binding, it is will merely be construed as the expression of a wish and the trustee is not required to comply with it).
For a Death Benefit Nomination to be made valid and binding there are a number of formal requirements that need to be complied with, for example, it must be made in favour of a dependant, or the trustees of the member’s estate. Another example includes that it must have been no more than three years prior to the date of death.
