Ex-girlfriend may get super despite ‘drifting off’ when dad got ill

You don’t own your super. Your super is owned by the trustee of your super fund. One of the main flow-ons from this is that you can’t gift your super in your will. Again, it is the trustee of your super fund who can decide where your super goes when you die.

However, it is possible to effectively gift your super by directing the trustee as to how they are to deal with your retirement savings. Provided the trust deed of your fund also permits it, superannuation legislation allows a member to give a notice to the trustee “in accordance with the regulations” requiring the trustee to provide member benefits to the member’s dependants or to the executor or administrator of the member’s estate.