Two documents decide what your family actually receives
Your super won't go to who you think — and the cover may already be gone.
Two things decide what lands in your family's account: who is named on your Binding Death Benefit Nomination, and whether your death & TPD cover inside super still exists. Both expire quietly — the BDBN every three years, the insurance after 16 months without a contribution. STEADCALM watches both, on every fund, every night.
"$17.8B in Australian super sits in unclaimed or misdirected death benefits. It doesn't have to be yours."
The two things we exist to protect
One decides who gets paid.
The other decides how much is left to pay.
Everything else in STEADCALM exists to keep these two intact. Break either one, and the other stops mattering.
Your Binding Death Benefit Nomination
Decides WHO gets paid.
Super is not automatically part of your estate. A valid BDBN is the only instruction the trustee must follow. It lapses every three years under SIS Reg 6.17A — silently, with no letter and no reminder.
Your death & TPD cover inside super
Decides HOW MUCH there is to pay.
Most Australians' largest life and disability cover sits inside super. Under the Putting Members' Interests First rules it is cancelled automatically after 16 months without a contribution — a job change, parental leave or a move to a new fund is enough.
How it actually goes wrong
Nothing dramatic happens. That's the problem.
Neither failure announces itself. There is no letter, no phone call, no alert. The first time anyone finds out is the day your family needs the money.
You change jobs.
- Contributions stop landing in the old fund.
- 16 months later, the insurer cancels your death & TPD cover.
- Nobody writes to tell you it's gone.
Your family claims — and there is no cover to claim on.
Three years pass.
- Your BDBN quietly lapses on its anniversary.
- The fund files it as non-binding.
- Trustee discretion replaces your instruction.
Your family waits 6–18 months while strangers decide the split.
When your BDBN matters most
Five life events that reveal a broken nomination — usually too late.
Death & Estate
The moment your BDBN either does its job — or fails.
Divorce & Separation
Ex-partners named as beneficiaries. Percentage splits that no longer reflect reality.
Medical Emergency
Incapacity puts your nomination — and any pending renewal — into limbo.
Bushfire
IDs, insurance and super records ready before the siren goes.
Flood & Storm
Paperwork that survives the water, the outage and the assessor.
Why the regulator is watching
The system is under review.
Your paperwork doesn't have to be.
Super death benefits have been the subject of a royal commission, a class-scale ASIC court action, and a landmark 2025 regulator report — because too many Australian families wait too long, or receive the wrong amount, at the worst possible moment.
Hayne Royal Commission
The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (final report Feb 2019) exposed how super trustees were failing members and their families — and set the direction for every reform since.
ASIC v Cbus
ASIC commenced Federal Court action against Cbus over delays in handling approximately 10,000 death and Total & Permanent Disability claims — some families waiting well over a year to be paid.
ASIC Report 806
"Taking ownership of death benefits" reviewed ten major trustees and found systemic delays, poor communication and inconsistent processes across the industry. The regulator is now watching how every fund pays out.
Sources: Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (2019); ASIC media release 24-253MR (Nov 2024); ASIC Report 806 (Mar 2025).
The product — how we close the gap
The trustee has a checklist.
We hand you the answers — before they ask.
When you die, your super fund doesn't call your family — it runs a legal test on a two-page form most people signed years ago, then pays whatever cover is still active. STEADCALM keeps the form current, the cover switched on, and the payout on the people you actually chose.
Without STEADCALM
- Your BDBN silently lapsed on its 3rd anniversary. Nobody told you.
- Witnesses weren't independent — the fund voids the form on a technicality.
- An ex-partner is still named. A new child isn't.
- Your death & TPD cover cancelled 16 months after the last contribution.
- Trustee discretion applies. Payout takes 6–18 months, split how they decide.
With STEADCALM
- Every fund, USI, nomination and insurance policy in one encrypted vault.
- SIS Reg 6.17A engine checks lapse, witnesses, dependants & percentages nightly.
- Contribution-gap monitor warns before life, TPD or income cover auto-cancels.
- 47-day warning by email + SMS — with the pre-filled, fund-specific renewal ready.
- Estate brief PDF ready for your solicitor, executor and family — the day it's needed.
Watch every nomination
Binding, non-binding, reversionary. We flag lapse, witness eligibility (SIS 6.17A), and beneficiaries who no longer qualify as dependants.
Watch every policy
Death, TPD and income protection inside each fund. We track contribution gaps and warn you long before the 16-month auto-cancellation.
Fix both in one place
A pre-filled, fund-specific BDBN to sign and post — and the exact contribution or election needed to keep your cover switched on.
Why this can't wait
A BDBN can't be renewed after you've died, been diagnosed, or lost capacity — the three moments it matters most.
How it works
Three steps between your family and the trustee's discretion.
Add your funds and scan your nomination
Upload a photo of your latest BDBN — we extract the fund, beneficiaries, percentages and signing date, and record the death, TPD and income protection cover held in each account.
We watch both, every night
SIS Reg 6.17A checks on the nomination (3-year lapse, witnesses, dependants, percentages) and contribution-gap checks on the insurance (the 16-month auto-cancellation clock).
You get one warning, and the fix
47 days out, one alert by email and SMS: a pre-filled renewal form to sign in front of two witnesses, or the exact step needed to keep your cover from cancelling.
What it feels like once it's done
One afternoon now. Years of certainty after it.
You stop guessing.
Every fund, nomination and cover amount in one place, checked nightly against the rules that actually void them.
You get warned early.
47 days before a BDBN lapses, and before a contribution gap cancels death or TPD cover — with the renewal already prepared.
Your family isn't left digging.
One Estate Brief, a Medical ID card and pre-authorised contacts who can reach exactly what you allowed — nothing more.
Inside STEADCALM — the two hero products & everything that orbits them
Two things at the centre. Every module keeps them valid.
Your BDBN and your death & TPD cover inside super are the reason STEADCALM exists. Everything else sits in one of two orbits: keeping those two standing, or making sure they work on the day they're needed. All included — free plan gets you started.
The two hero products
Who gets paid, and how much there is to pay. These two run nightly and drive every alert we send.
Every fund, every nomination, watched nightly.
Add each super fund once. We track balance, USI and the SIS Reg 6.17A validity of every BDBN — and warn you 47 days before it lapses, renewal already prepared.
Silent cancellations, caught before they hit.
Insurance inside super auto-cancels after 16 months without a contribution. We watch every fund nightly and warn you before life, TPD or income cover disappears.
What keeps both standing
A nomination and a policy are only as strong as the accounts, structures and authorities behind them. Same nightly engine, same alert stream.
One dashboard. Every moving part.
BDBN status, cover status, fund balances, nominated contacts, vault activity and estate readiness at a glance — the same view your family will inherit.
The forgotten accounts the ATO is holding for you.
A$17.8B in Australian super sits lost or unclaimed — often with cover attached. We surface likely accounts from your employment history and generate a claim-ready pack for each one.
Trustee succession and deed reviews, handled.
Corporate trustee director changes, reversionary pension nominations and deed-review reminders — the gaps most SMSF advisers don't close.
Every Power of Attorney, valid across every state.
Track each Enduring Power of Attorney by state, flag revocation events, and warn before witness or registration requirements make it unenforceable.
When the moment comes
Death, incapacity, evacuation. The paperwork, the people and the access all have to work on the worst day — not the calmest one.
The paperwork your family will actually need.
Wills, EPOAs, insurance, titles, ID, medical directives — encrypted at rest with AES-256, TLS 1.3 in transit, retrievable from a phone on 3G.
A single PDF, ready the day it's needed.
Every fund, member number, BDBN status and beneficiary split in one file for your solicitor and executor. Weeks of paperwork, done in advance.
What a paramedic needs, in one scan.
Conditions, allergies, medications, blood type and emergency contacts on a printable wallet card and A4 sheet, plus a private link first responders can open without a login.
Your essentials, when there's no signal.
Download an encrypted snapshot of your medical details, contacts, BDBN status and key documents — cached on your device for evacuations, outages and dead zones.
The right people, on terms you set now.
View-only, release-on-verified-event, or emergency unlock with your response window. Every access is confirmed by email, audited and revocable.
Passkeys, MFA, and a full audit log — yours.
WebAuthn/passkey sign-in, session controls, device list, and an immutable record of every unlock request, every share, every change.
Nominated contacts
The people who help you — on terms you set in advance.
You cannot give consent when you're unconscious, incapacitated or gone. So you give it once, now, in writing — and every unlock is verified and audited.
How access really works →- View only
They see exactly what you've shared. Nothing hidden ever unlocks.
- Release on verified event
They see nothing today. Access unlocks only after STEADCALM verifies a death certificate, medical incapacity, or documented emergency.
- Emergency unlock request
They can request access in a crisis. You approve, deny — or after your chosen window (6h / 24h / 72h) it escalates to your other contacts and STEADCALM.
Free tools — no sign-up required
Start with the same tools your solicitor will thank you for.
Everything below is free to use before you create an account — and every one of them is available inside your dashboard once you join, so nothing you see here disappears behind the login.
Estate Planning Checklist
A 6-step, 28-item Australian checklist covering will, super, BDBN, accounts, insurance, digital access and nominated people.
BDBN Expiry Checker
Answer six questions and see — in two minutes — whether your Binding Death Benefit Nomination will hold up.
Guides & Readiness Index
Plain-English guides for Australian super, BDBN and estate readiness — and a self-scored index to track your progress.
Two minutes. No credit card.
Find out if your nomination — and your cover — would actually hold.
Enter your fund. We'll tell you whether your BDBN is still binding and whether your death & TPD cover is still switched on — and prepare the fix for whichever one isn't.