Notifying Your Superannuation Fund Trustee About Divorce

Your Fund Trustee Is a Party to the Split — Not Just a Processor

Most people think of their super fund as a bank that holds retirement savings. In a divorce, the fund trustee becomes something closer to a third party with veto power. Under the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2025, you cannot split super without the trustee's active involvement, and ignoring their requirements will derail the process.

The trustee's role is structural: they hold the assets, they confirm whether a proposed splitting order can be legally implemented, and they execute the physical transfer. Each fund has its own internal procedures on top of the federal requirements, which is why notifying the right team in the right way matters.

What Each Major Fund Requires

Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC)

CSC administers the public sector schemes — CSS, PSS, PSSap, and MilitarySuper. These are among the most complex funds to split because several are defined benefit schemes with actuarial valuation requirements.

CSC charges $150 to $165 per calculation date for family law valuations. You need to submit the FCFCOA's Form 6 Declaration along with CSC's own information request form. Defined benefit members receive a valuation based on actuarial tables, not a simple account balance.

CSC requires the 28-day procedural fairness notice — you must serve draft splitting orders on CSC at least 28 days before filing with the court. CSC's family law team reviews the draft for workability and responds in writing.

HESTA

HESTA handles superannuation for the health and community services sector. As an accumulation fund, the family law value is typically the account balance at the nominated valuation date, making the valuation step simpler than defined benefit schemes.

HESTA's separation and divorce page outlines their specific forms and process. Contact their member services team to request a family law information pack, which includes their required forms and a guide to the splitting process.

Australian Retirement Trust (ART)

ART — formed from the merger of QSuper and Sunsuper — provides separation and divorce guidance through their member portal. As one of Australia's largest funds, they have a dedicated family law team.

ART's process follows the standard federal framework: Form 6 information request, valuation, 28-day procedural fairness notice, then execution upon receipt of sealed orders and the Reg 144 notice.

The Reg 144 Notice

Once your splitting order is sealed by the court (or your BFA is executed), you must serve the final documents on the fund trustee alongside a notice under Regulation 144 of the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2025. This notice — formerly Regulation 72 under the 2001 framework — formally triggers the split.

The split becomes legally active on the fourth business day after the trustee receives the notice. The trustee then contacts the non-member spouse with options: open a new account within the same fund, or roll the split amount into a different complying superannuation fund.

What Happens If You Skip the 28-Day Notice

The court will not make a splitting order unless the fund trustee has confirmed the proposed order is workable. If you file consent orders that include a super split without having served the 28-day notice on the trustee, the court will either reject the application outright or delay processing until the notice requirement is satisfied.

The wording in the final sealed order must match the draft that the trustee approved. Even minor wording changes after the trustee's review means restarting the 28-day clock.

Multiple Funds Mean Multiple Notifications

If the parties have super across several funds — which is common, especially for people who have changed jobs multiple times — each fund must be notified separately. The 28-day notice, the information request, and the final Reg 144 service are all fund-specific. A splitting order covering three funds means three separate notification processes running in parallel.

The Broader Super Picture

Fund trustee notification is one step in the complete superannuation splitting process. The Northern Territory After-Divorce Checklist walks through the full sequence — from the initial Form 6 information request through to the final Reg 144 service — alongside the separate task of updating beneficiary nominations, which the split does not handle.

See more Northern Territory guides →