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ARTICLE · 04 APRIL 2019

Super­an­nu­a­tion splitting and rela­tion­ship breakdown

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There is no "one size fits all" approach to superannuation splitting which can be applied to all separating couples.

AustraliaFamily and Matrimonial
Monique Robb
Monique Robb
Katerina Lonergan
Katerina Lonergan
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The Aus­tralian Finan­cial Review recent­ly ran an opin­ion piece (by Tim Mack­ay) on the ATO announc­ing that it is using a "top 100 SMSF" list to "tar­get aggres­sive tax plan­ning arrange­ments." The top 100 SMS­Fs report­ed­ly con­trol a com­bined $8 billion.

Super­an­nu­a­tion is a tax effec­tive way to save for retire­ment, and while most peo­ple won't have super­an­nu­a­tion enti­tle­ments to the tune of bil­lions, or even mil­lions, it is often one of the most sub­stan­tial assets "up for grabs" in the event of rela­tion­ship breakdown.

This arti­cle looks at how the Fam­i­ly Court and Fed­er­al Cir­cuit Court treat superannuation.

Asset by asset approach or glob­al approach to divid­ing the prop­er­ty pool

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