Are you in Family Court proceedings? This is how you can obtain information about your ex-partner’s superannuation.
If you are involved in proceedings in the Family Court of Western Australia, it is now much easier to obtain information about the superannuation entitlements of your ex-partner or ex-spouse.
Parties in property settlement proceedings can now apply to have superannuation information released by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The relevant document is a Request for superannuation information, which can be submitted via the eCourts portal.
This request is available for married and de facto couples.
You can lodge the request through eLodgment on the eCourts portal. You will be prompted to provide information including:
- The name of the Other Party to the proceedings;
- Family Name of the Other Party;
- Date of Birth of Other Party; and
- Address of the Other Party.
Once the request is received by the ATO, a search of superannuation records will be completed. The information will then be provided to the Registry of the Family Court. The information will ordinarily include the most updated superannuation balance reported to the ATO, which can include information across several funds (if relevant).
There is no fee to lodge the request, and you could be provided with a copy of the information within seven (7) calendar days.
You should only use the information for the purposes of property settlement proceedings, and should only be disclosed to the parties (and lawyers) for the purposes of the proceedings. Unauthorized publishing or disclosure of the information may be an office.
If the reported balance to the ATO is not up-to-date (as at the current date), you may wish to also complete a Form 6 Superannuation Declaration, as part of the Superannuation Information Kit.
If you would like further information about this, please do not hesitate to contact one of our experienced lawyers on (08) 6559 7480 to discuss this further.