SMSF: Parents and guardians of minors who are SMSF members can soon be a director of the corporate trustee for that minor

A proposed law due to go before Parliament in February 2012 would allow parents and guardians of minors who are SMSF members to be a director of the corporate trustee for that minor. If passed, the new law will apply from 8 October 1999.

The change

The proposed new law would repeal and replace section 17A(3) of the SIS Act, so that if the trustee of an SMSF is a body corporate, then a parent or guardian of a member who is a minor can be a trustee-director in the member's place (including if the member does not have a legal personal representative).

As it is currently drafted, section 17A(3) does not cater for a corporate trustee. It only provides that if a member of an SMSF is underage and doesn't have a legal personal representative, then the parent or guardian of the member may be a trustee of the SMSF in place of the member (but not a member of the corporate trustee).

Timing

If the Bill is passed, this change to the SIS Act will apply from 8 October 1999.

The change is in the Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No 9) Bill 2011 (Bill) which makes retrospective changes to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act). The Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 23 November 2011 and is due for debate in the next parliamentary term, commencing in February.

More information from Maddocks

For questions or more information about the above alert, please call Maddocks in Melbourne (03) 9288 0555 and ask for a member of the Financial Services Team.

More Cleardocs information on superannuation and SMSFs

You can read other articles concerning superannuation and SMSFs here.

1. Order SMSF related document packages

• Set up an SMSF
• Update an SMSF deed
• Set up an SMSF pension
• Arrange SMSF borrowing lending docs:
  • for when the lender is a bank
  • for when the lender is a related party
• Set up an SMSF corporate trustee
• SMSF Death Benefit Nomination - binding or non binding
• SMSF Death Benefit Agreement - binding and permanent

2. Download

Download a checklist of the information you need to order a document package.