Wrong beneficiaries listed on a superannuation account.

I recently saw an article by 9 news on the 10th of September 2024 – called “Man discovers monumental mistake with superannuation account”. You can view the article here.

From what I could see from what they wrote was:

A man – Kevin retired due to a health scare
He checked his super fund and found 2 random women were listed as his children and beneficiaries of his superannuation fund.
He doesn’t have any daughters.
The super fund said it was a manual error – not a result of his account being “hacked”.

The media again like to sensationalise things and calling it a “monumental mistake”. My initial thoughts are that the chance of the superfund actually paying the superannuation benefit to these women in the event of his death was unlikely as superannuation can only be paid to a spouse, or de facto partner, a child, interdependent, other financial dependants or your legal personal representative. These women don’t fall under any of these categories. The super trustee’s when paying a benefit need to check that the beneficiaries are who they say they are and provided the super fund did the correct checking if he did pass away, this would mean that they would find these women ineligible as they are actually not his children or dependants and therefore making the nomination invalid.

However although unlikely – it is always best not to leave things to chance and follow the steps below:

Make sure you regularly check your superannuation statements (check everything not just your beneficiaries!)
Seek advice from a financial adviser and a solicitor in regard to making a nomination that suits your wishes in regard to what will happen to your superannuation in the event you pass away.