Form · Superannuation
Reversionary pension nomination and trustee acceptance (SMSF account-based pension)
A member's nomination that an SMSF account-based pension revert automatically to a dependant on death, with the trustee's acceptance, the dependant check, the interaction with any binding death benefit nomination and the transfer balance account timing.
- Kind
- Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when an SMSF member wants a surviving spouse or other dependant to continue receiving their pension automatically on death, ideally when the pension starts. If a pension is already running, check whether the deed allows reversionary terms to be added or whether the pension must be restarted. Not for a lump sum death benefit; use the binding death benefit nomination.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may complete the nomination from the member's instructions and check it against the deed, the pension documents and any binding nomination; a lawyer confirms the beneficiary is a dependant, the deed permits it and the estate plan is consistent.
AI may
- Fill the member, pension and beneficiary details from the instructions and pension records
- Compare the nomination with any binding death benefit nomination and the will and list inconsistencies
- Extract the deed clauses on reversionary pensions and death benefits for the lawyer to read
AI must not
- Must not decide that the nominated person is a dependant or that the deed permits the nomination
- Must not choose between reversionary and non-reversionary terms, or advise on transfer balance cap outcomes
- Must not alter an existing pension's terms without the trustee's resolution
The lawyer checks
- Nominated person is a dependant who can receive a death benefit income stream (for example a spouse), and the deed permits automatic reversion
- Nomination is consistent with any binding death benefit nomination and the member's will
- Transfer balance cap effect for the survivor considered, including the 12-month deferral of the credit
- Trustee acceptance minuted and the nomination kept with the pension documents
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Superannuation
- Binding death benefit nomination (SMSF and APRA-regulated fund variants)
- SMSF trustee minutes and member request: commencing an account-based pension
- AFCA superannuation complaint (including death benefit and TPD decisions)
- Letter to a superannuation fund trustee requesting information and documents (Corporations Act s 1017C)
- SMSF trust deed variation deed
- SMSF investment strategy (including insurance consideration)
- SMSF trustee minutes and member request: partial or full commutation of a pension to a lump sum
- Total and permanent disablement claim submission letter to trustee and insurer
- Review checklist for AI-generated member communications and chatbots (superannuation trustees)
- AI prompt template with guardrails: extracting a fund deed's death benefit and nomination provisions
All precedents for Superannuation · Tasks and AI use in this area