Death benefits: how greed may creep in
Understanding how trustees choose beneficiaries can go a long way in alleviating confusion
The Pension Fund Adjudicator has strongly condemned the conduct of a woman from Musina in Limpopo as greedy when she requested the trustees grant her the full payment of her life partner’s death benefit. In addition to his life partner, the deceased was survived by his mother and four biological children. The member had saved R1.6m and the trustees of his fund, PSQ Wealth Retirement Annuity Fund, distributed the benefit as follows: The life partner received 80%, the two children each received 5%, and 10% went to the mother. The other two children were left empty-handed. The life partner argued that she was 57 and almost retired. She also argued that the two children who benefited were still young and employed and that her deceased partner’s mother had six children who all still supported her in various ways. The woman further argued that the mother had been awarded R625,632 from another retirement annuity the member had with Discovery, while the two children each received R154,000, ...
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