Update Beneficiaries After Divorce in Australia

Your divorce is finalised. You've updated your will to remove your ex-spouse. You assume everything is sorted. But there's a category of assets your will doesn't touch — and your ex-spouse may still be named as the person who gets them when you die.

Superannuation death benefits and life insurance payouts sit outside your estate. They are not governed by your will. And divorce does not automatically revoke the beneficiary nominations you have on file.

Binding Death Benefit Nominations (BDBNs)

A BDBN is a direction you give your super fund trustee specifying who should receive your death benefit. If you have a valid BDBN naming your ex-spouse, the trustee is legally obligated to pay them — regardless of what your updated will says, regardless of your divorce, regardless of your current relationship status.

To change this:

1. Log into your super fund or contact them directly
2. Submit a new BDBN nominating your preferred beneficiaries
3. Have two witnesses sign the nomination (neither can be a nominated beneficiary)
4. Confirm the nomination type — binding nominations typically expire every three years and must be renewed, while non-lapsing binding nominations remain in force until you change them

If you don't have a BDBN in place (or it has lapsed), the trustee uses their discretion to distribute the death benefit. They typically consider your dependants and legal personal representative, but the outcome is less predictable — and your ex-spouse may still qualify as a dependant if they were receiving spousal maintenance.

Who Qualifies as a Beneficiary?

Under superannuation law, you can only nominate:

• Your spouse (including de facto)
• Your children (including adult children and stepchildren)
• Anyone in an interdependency relationship with you
• Your legal personal representative (which directs the benefit to your estate, and then your will controls distribution)

If you want the benefit to flow through your estate — so your will controls where it goes — nominate your legal personal representative as the beneficiary.

Life Insurance Beneficiary Updates

Life insurance policies attached to your super fund follow the same rules as the BDBN. But standalone life insurance policies (purchased directly through an insurer) are separate contracts entirely. These don't have the same nomination restrictions as super — you can name anyone — but they also don't update automatically upon divorce.

Contact each insurer directly and submit new beneficiary nominations. This includes:

• Life insurance (lump sum death cover)
• Total and permanent disability (TPD) policies
• Income protection policies with death benefits
• Trauma/critical illness policies

The Timing Gap That Creates Risk

Most people update their will within the first few weeks after divorce but take months — or never — to update their super and insurance nominations. During that gap, the old nominations control.

If you die before updating:

• Your will (updated) leaves everything to your children
• Your super fund (not updated) pays a six-figure death benefit directly to your ex-spouse
• There's no legal recourse because the BDBN was valid at the time of death

This isn't a hypothetical edge case. It's the most common estate planning failure after divorce in Australia.

Steps to Update Everything

Work through this list within 30 days of your divorce being finalised:

1. List every super fund you have (check your MyGov ATO-linked accounts if unsure)
2. Check existing BDBNs — call each fund and ask whether a binding nomination is in place and who is named
3. Submit new BDBNs to each fund with your updated beneficiaries
4. List every life insurance policy — both inside super and standalone
5. Submit new beneficiary nominations to each insurer
6. Set calendar reminders for BDBN renewal dates (typically every three years for lapsing nominations)

The NSW After-Divorce Checklist includes a beneficiary audit worksheet that tracks every super fund and insurance policy, their current nominations, and the renewal dates — so you never accidentally leave your ex-spouse named on a policy worth more than your house.

See more New South Wales guides →