Super funds urged to adopt new super splitting initiative
Industry super fund HESTA has urged other super funds to adopt a new universal, streamlined process for the splitting of superannuation assets following the completion of its pilot program.
HESTA recently adopted the simpler super splitting initiative, which uses a simple, plain language form for court orders that can be used across the super and legal sectors and by the courts.
Together with Women’s Legal Service Victoria (WLSV), super fund administrator Link Group, and Australian Family Lawyers, HESTA recently trialled the court-endorsed orders and simplified process in a live super splitting case involving two HESTA members, which achieved significant reductions in time delays and legal costs.
Evaluation of the pilot revealed the time to process a super split, which has previously been lengthy, reduced significantly, with time for super trustees to approve draft orders also significantly reduced.
HESTA chief executive Debby Blakey said a streamlined industry process for splitting super assets would remove complexity and speed up processing times, reducing stress for super fund members at a difficult time in their lives.
“This universal, simplified process will go a long way towards ensuring equity in super outcomes when relationships end, but we need more super funds to come on board,” Ms Blakey said.
“Dividing super assets to date has been an unnecessarily long and complex process, often requiring expensive legal advice that can unfortunately result in many women, especially those from low-income households or who are experiencing disadvantage, walking away from their fair share of super assets”.
Ms Blakey noted that the process for splitting super assets differs from fund to fund and that complexity around obtaining and completing the super splitting orders makes the forms difficult to complete without legal assistance.
Work is already underway to roll the new process out nationally to other super funds.
Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) CEO Eva Scheerlinck said that simplifying the process of splitting superannuation through family law settlements would benefit all parties by making the process far more efficient, fair and cost-effective.
“A number of AIST members are in the process of adopting the new templates and we encourage all funds to do so,” said Ms Scheerlinck.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
