Pension/Death Benefits

O

Odwa_M

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2014
Messages
157
Reaction score
33
Location
Strand
Good day guys

Could someone with knowledge on this, please advise me.

In 2015, I lost my sister and she was employed by the Department Of Education.

Now we're in the process of claiming for the pension/death benefits through the office in
PTA. After submitting all the required documents and the one's "outstanding", I phoned them today
and they say all the calculations are done from their side and they are waiting for something from SARS, something
the girl on the line couldn't really explain to me.

My sister was divorced and her ex-husband is deceased too. She had two children, one is 20 and the other 17 years.

So here are my questions:

1. What is exactly this "thing" from SARS and how long does it normally takes?

2. Out of the too kids, who will receive the benefits into his/her bank account, considering
the other one is still a minor.

3. Going forward, how long must they wait for payment?

TIA
 
It could be that they are waiting for a Directive from SARS. This basically directs the person, to withhold a certain amount of money from a payment, but this should be incredibly quick as SARS gives thousand of these a day.

Your sister would likely have nominated beneficiaries in terms of who would benefit from her pension amount. The Fund Administrators would be responsible for enforcing that. If you are not having any luck, find out who the Trustees of the pension fund are and approach them for assistance.

Payment really should not take too long. If this was 2015, then there is either an issue of an inept staff member.
 
First the trustees has to determine the dependents, that can take a while:

http://www.fin24.com/Money/Retireme...erride-deceased-members-instructions-20170309

Now I guess they (GEPF? - technically GPAA who does their admin) are waiting for a tax directive from SARS.

This is why it important to have some life insurance, that pays out to whomever was instructed to pay out to in its nomination form (like these dependents), unlike a pension or provident fund where the trustees don't have to follow your wishes.
 
Also these questions should be asked to the executor of the estate. 2015 to current is a long time, what happened between all that?
 
supersunbird said:
Does the executor/s have any influence with the fund trustees? From my understanding they don't.
Click to expand...

GEPF payments do not form part of the estate if the member nominated beneficiaries. So if your sister nominated the two kids as beneficiaries, they will each receive 50%. The minor's guardian will receive child support until the minor is 18. Then the balance will be paid to the minor. If your sister however did not nominate beneficiaries, the executor could get involved. But the trustees in the GEPF could still elect to pay out the pension to what they deem the beneficiaries should be, which is the two kids.
 
Benefits about pension, is not working.

Benefits of death is the same as above with added no more worries about anything :D
 
It could be that SARS is waiting for outstanding tax returns. Even if your sister was below the threshold for submitting returns, often in non-routine circumstances like death, retirement, retrenchment, they will want returns for the last few years before issuing directives. For this reason it is a good idea for anyone whose taxable income is below the level where tax returns are mandated, to submit them anyway.
 
supersunbird said:
Does the executor/s have any influence with the fund trustees? From my understanding they don't.
Click to expand...

The trustees are required to work with the executor. No one else should have a claim or be able to interact with any unit without going through them, that is why one is appointed. It is their job to ensure that the creditors etc are settled prior to disbursement and that disbursement takes place according to the deceased wishes or state law.
 
Kosmik said:
The trustees are required to work with the executor. No one else should have a claim or be able to interact with any unit without going through them, that is why one is appointed. It is their job to ensure that the creditors etc are settled prior to disbursement and that disbursement takes place according to the deceased wishes or state law.
Click to expand...

NO they are not. If beneficiaries are nominated (and even sometimes if not), the pension does not form part of the estate.
 
ambroseg1 said:
NO they are not. If beneficiaries are nominated (and even sometimes if not), the pension does not form part of the estate.
Click to expand...

Yes, the fund trustees must do their own investigation on who the real dependents are and then pay them.

RAs just pay out to whomever is nominated?
 
Kosmik said:
Hmmm I doubt that. Let me check with someone.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, ambroseg1 may be right. I'm still awaiting feedback on my q to someone else but have a look at the article below:

https://www.sanlam.co.za/mediacentr...tion 37C; The Burden on the Board of Trustees

Basically death benefits don't form part of the estate and at the same time, nominees are NOT automaticly liable. The disbursement is handled by the trustees alone and they determine it via the degree of dependancy of the dependants on the deceased. So in answer to the OP's origional question, no-one will actually know, only the fund trustees.
 
Kosmik said:
Hmmm, ambroseg1 may be right. I'm still awaiting feedback on my q to someone else but have a look at the article below:

https://www.sanlam.co.za/mediacentr...tion 37C; The Burden on the Board of Trustees

Basically death benefits don't form part of the estate and at the same time, nominees are NOT automaticly liable. The disbursement is handled by the trustees alone and they determine it via the degree of dependancy of the dependants on the deceased. So in answer to the OP's origional question, no-one will actually know, only the fund trustees.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Basically your beneficiary nomination form is just a guideline for the trustees. If they feel like you should be supporting an uncle or other family member, they have the right to screw your nominated beneficiaries and split the payout to other people. Sick situation. I just hope I am spared long enough to die after retirement so I can decide what to do with MY money and not some trustee who I don't know from adam.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X