Deed · Superannuation
SMSF trust deed variation deed
Deed varying an SMSF's governing rules by replacement or specific amendment, with continuity, accrued-benefit and SIS compliance clauses, a trustee resolution and execution blocks.
- Kind
- Deed. A deed that must be executed as a deed.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use to update an SMSF deed, for example to modernise it, change the death benefit nomination rules or add a successor director clause. Do not use for APRA-regulated funds, or without first confirming the existing amendment power and the chain of earlier variations.
How AI may be used
AI can compare the existing deed with the proposed changes and fill in the schedule. Compliance with the amendment power is decisive and must be confirmed by a lawyer.
AI may
- Extract the amendment power, its conditions and every earlier variation into a table with clause and page references
- Produce a clause-by-clause comparison of the current rules and the proposed rules
- Populate Schedule 1 from the lawyer's instructions
AI must not
- Must not decide whether the amendment power or an earlier variation was validly exercised
- Must not generate replacement governing rules from general knowledge without a lawyer-approved source
- Must not receive member account or estate details in a tool whose terms allow training on inputs
The lawyer checks
- The amendment power and each condition, and the validity of every earlier variation
- Effect on existing nominations, pensions and accrued benefits
- Execution formalities under s 127 and the relevant state law
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)
- AFCA superannuation complaint (including death benefit and TPD decisions)
- SMSF investment strategy (including insurance consideration)
- 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