According to Treasury estimates, approximately 16,900 individuals hold these legacy pensions.

Tim Miller, technical and education manager for Smarter SMSF, was involved in the Treasury consultation process and said it provided insight into how these pensions operate within the SMSF sector.

“It was a valuable process to be involved in as we were able to clarify a number of key issues that are not well understood within the regulations,” he said.

The new market-linked pension commutation documents are accessible through an online order form that connects with BGL, Class, or SuperMate software, or via manual request forms.

Aaron Dunn, Smarter SMSF CEO, said it is a complex area to navigate for professionals.

“That’s why we’ve built a range of checklists, fact sheets and calculators to ensure that the documentation being prepared complies with the new regulations and fund’s governing rules,” he said.

The new regulations have also prompted changes to the Smarter SMSF deed, incorporating the provisions for commutation of these income streams and allocations from fund reserves.

The Smarter Legal Review process allows for a deed review to determine necessary updates to the fund’s governing rules.

Smarter SMSF members and PAYG users can utilise these online forms to create certain commutation documents, along with manual forms (excel-based) that can be submitted to Smarter SMSF for preparation at a fixed fee.

The Legacy Pensions Hub includes the following documents:

· trust deed upgrade (to comply with the new regulations)

· market-linked pension commutations (available to order online or manual request)

· lifetime complying pension commutation

· life expectancy (fixed term) complying pension

· allocations from reserves