Generally, we recommend amending errors:-

1. where incorrect signing dates are listed, or any amendments to the deed are not mentioned in the schedule;
2. where the wrong entity, ACN or ABN (especially an SMSF trust deed) has been used; and
3. where the property address for the property is listed incorrectly.

Below are some examples of issues you can encounter if you do not rectify superannuation documents:

• A Bare Trust Deed has the wrong property address, and the bank will not approve a property transfer without the property address being changed;
• A Deed of Variation is not referenced properly, and the wrong version of a trust deed is used to make a decision, which is later determined to be non-compliant with superannuation laws or invalid;
• The wrong party gains legal title.

To amend all of these issues, we can provide a deed of rectification or other deeds as required.

A Certificate of Legal Review will be tailored to your needs.

You can show this certificate to others as confirmation by SMSF trustees and advisers that specialist superannuation lawyers have reviewed your superannuation documents.

We envision that it will be best utilised by:

• SMSF Trustees or advisers who want to confirm if a deed chain or binding death nomination is free from defect;
• SMSF Trustees or advisers who have identified some concerns with documents but are not sure if any steps need to be taken and want a review to determine if any works needs to be done;
• SMSF Trustees or advisers who require LRBA or loan documents to be reviewed by SMSF specialists;
• SMSF Trustees or advisers who need assistance with a deed upgrade;

We would recommend seeking a certificate from Hill Legal (using the Smarter Legal Review) if you are concerned about any of the above issues.

In worst-case scenarios, small defects in documents end up being challenged in court or result in penalties being issued by the ATO.

A Certificate of Legal Review will not resolve a document’s defects or existing legal issues.

Aside from checking a deed for some basic errors (When a document is properly signed and dated and whether the name of the parties are correct), we will only review the document according to your instructions, and a compliance certificate will be scoped accordingly.

The cost for any review or rectification is outlined on our service table above.

However, we will note that some complex or extensive reviews or legal matters will require a greater scope of work than covered by Level 1, 2 or 3 in our service table. These matters are known as bespoke reviews (level 4) and will require special legal consideration and Hill legal will prepare a quote for each matter in this category on a case-by-case basis.

To request legal review, you will need to complete a via the relevant form on the Smarter SMSF platform – e.g. trust deed upgrade, change of trustee, or deed of rectification, etc.

As indicated in the table above, the SLR service offers four types of reviews: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Bespoke (L4).

• Level 1 reviews consider a single pre-existing document and compare it with a Smarter SMSF document. This may be useful to check the validity of a deed chain or the validity of a related SMSF document, such as the validity of a binding death benefit nomination.
• Level 2 reviews consider up to three pre-existing documents and compare them with a created Smarter SMSF document. This review could be used to check a large deed chain or multiple documents to see if they are valid to the terms of the SMSF trust deed or superannuation law.
• Level 3 reviews are mainly for deeds of rectification. This review is best when you have a SMSF Trust Deed or Deed of Variation which, due to a clerical error, is incorrect and may not be valid. For example, the name of the corporate trustee may not be spelt properly on the SMSF trust deed.
• Level 4 covers some more complex amendments or reviews that fall outside the above scope and require a bespoke review.  You will work with Hill Legal as to the scope and fees for the work to be undertaken.,

If you have completed a request for legal review in a Smarter SMSF form and picked the wrong type of review, Hill Legal will notify you of this as part of the scoping of work and will ask if you would like to change the scope of work to be completed.

If this happens, the difference between the cost of the review ordered and cost estimate will need to be paid directly to Hill Legal for the work to proceed.

For example, if you ordered a level 1 review and subsequently it was identified that a level 2 review was needed, the difference in price between a level 1 and level 2 review would be payable directly to Hill Legal to complete this work – Smarter SMSF will resolve the initial Level 1 payment with Hill Legal.