Selling your family home at any stage of life can be an emotional experience. From a place where your favourite memories have been created, to somewhere that you have watched your kids grow up…or if you are like me, it may hold even more significance as the family home was built by my Dad many years ago.

Unfortunately, a family home may lead to tension with your loved ones when one or more of your children decides they want to purchase it.

But at the end of the day, it might just be time for you to take the next step in your life journey and focus on making a decision that is right for you. Part of this process should be to seek out financial advice and understand what opportunities you have available if you were to sell your family home.

To help make this process easier, there is a superannuation incentive in place to help with the financial decision of selling a family home. It is called the ‘downsizer contribution’.

What is the downsizer contribution?

The downsizer contribution is a one-off opportunity to put up to a maximum of $300,000 per person into super provided you meet the eligibility requirements.

If you choose to make a downsizer contribution but are either not eligible to use or choose not to use the full $300,000 limit, you cannot top this up in the future.

The amount of the contribution cannot exceed the proceeds of the sale of your property [for example – if your property sold for $500,000, you and your spouse between you could not make a $300,000 contribution you would be limited to a combined contribution of $500,000].

Who is eligible?

To be eligible for the downsizer contribution you:

  1. Must be aged over 65 at the time of making the contribution to super
  2. Do not have to meet the works test which would normally apply to people aged over 65 when contributing to super
  3. You can still make a downsizer contribution even if you are over the $1.6million total super balance test
  4. Don’t actually need to sell your family home. It must simply be a residential property that you are claiming a portion of any gain tax free under the main residence exemption, and have held the property for more than 10 years.
  5. May still be eligible to use the downsizer contribution on a rental property that at some stage has been your main residence.
  6. May be eligible for the downsizer contribution even if the property being sold is held solely in your spouse’s name.

Getting advice

There are a few requirements and some overarching financial considerations before you make the decision to sell your family home and it is important to seek financial advice specific to your personal situation.

There is also strict timing around when a downsizer contribution can be made to your super fund, so it is important that this advice is sorted out prior to signing a sale contract on your property.

For further advice that is tailored for your personal circumstance please contact Megan Kelly at businessDEPOT Financial Planning BNE Pty Ltd on 07 3193 3020.

 

Disclaimer

Information provided in this blog and on this website is general in nature and does not constitute financial advice. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, but information may become outdated as legislation and new government announcements are made. Individuals should not rely on this information to make a financial investment decision as it does not take into account their personal circumstance. Before making any decisions, we recommend you consult a licensed advisor to take into account your particular financial situations and needs.

businessDEPOT Financial Planning BNE and its advisors are Authorised Representatives of Fortnum Private Wealth Ltd ABN 54 139 889 535 AFSL 357306