TheChronicle,

Tuesday,
March1,2011| 23

Myth$of divorce
andsuper
THEREis a commonmisconception
that divorcespellstwo things to
birsinessowners = losing the children r
and losingthe house.While it is true"
that where children are involved in
divorce, the parent who has primary
care of the children generally receives
more of the propgrty settlemenfi the
new wave of shared care under the
2006family law reforms has signalled
a new era of divorce.
More'to the point for the pq{poses
of this column,there is a further
comnoonmisconceptionthat divorce
spellsthe end ofyour superaruruation
entitlements.
While it is true that the 2001family.
law reformsbrought with itlhe ability
of the Family Court to slice up
superannuationentitlements,here are
a few more facts to put in into
perspective.
The law doesnot allow
superannuationto be turned into
cash,evenafter it has beensplit as
part of a property settlement.
Therefore,when a spousereceivesa
slice of the superannuationpie, it
remains as superannuationuntil that
party qualifies for its relepse.Thus,
they will needto reachthe
preservatibn agein order tg be able to
claim it as cash.This dramatically
reducesits appealfor the spouse
seeking a superannuationsplit in
their favour.
On the other hand, by maintaining
superannuationintact (orat least
largely intact), the holder of
superannuationstandsto gain
significantlyfrom the increased
buying power and positive returns
USQFamrIy LawLexurerI
Accrdited Fq4nily LawSpeanlist
that can comefromholding onto
super.
Another point to note about
superannuationand divorceis that
while the Family Court now has
jurisdiction to deal with it as it would
any other asset,it is more often than
not treated as a special"species"of
asset.[n other words,the court takes
sttick of the fact that it generally can
not be cashedin immediately,and
thus allows for the spouseholding the
superto alsoreceivea proportion of
the cash assetsthat would allow them
.to make a fresh start. One of the
defining features of the Family Court
is that it's a specialistrelationshiplaw
court.
So,there you haveit. Despitethe
myths;you can divorceand keepyour
superannuation,too.
It's all about getting the right family
law adviceand developinga workable
strategyfrom the strategyfrom the
start.