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Pension Funds Adjudicator emphasises that in determining equitable death benefit distribution, extent of dependence must be investigated

Details

pfaIOL News reports that the decision to allocate a large portion of a death benefit to the financially independent son of the deceased, while his unemployed life partner and her children only received a fraction of the benefit, was set aside by the Pension Funds Adjudicator.

The adjudicator, Muvhango Lukhaimane, recently ordered the Private Security Sector Provident Fund to consider the financial dependency of the complainant (the life partner of the deceased) and her children. Following the deceased's passing, a death benefit of R254,609.51 became payable to his beneficiaries. The fund allocated 10% to his unemployed partner, 23% to the deceased’s son, who is employed, 25% to his daughter, who is a scholar, 14% to a stepson who is a scholar, 14% to a toddler stepdaughter, and 14% to a toddler stepson. The complainant objected to the fund’s allocation of the death benefit as the deceased contributed to raising and supporting her four children, whose support was now unavailable.

In her determination, Lukhaimane said the fact that a person qualified as a legal or factual dependant did not automatically give them the right to receive a portion of a death benefit. The deciding factor was financial dependency. Lukhaimane said it was the board’s responsibility when dealing with the payment of death benefits to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the beneficiaries, and thereafter, decide on an equitable distribution. “In the present matter, the marital circumstances of the complainant were not clear,” she noted. The allocation of the death benefit was set aside, and the fund was ordered to consider the financial circumstances and extent of dependency of the complainant and her children on the deceased.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zelda Venter at IOL News


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