Dodging maintenance? Here’s how to get your hands on your ex’s pension fund money
One of the key requirements for a court order to be legally binding on a fund is that the fund must be clearly identified by name.
Any parent can approach the maintenance court to ask for an order against the defaulting parent’s retirement fund. However, Oupa Segalwe, acting spokesperson for the Public Protector’s office, says for a parent to claim maintenance from the other parent’s retirement fund, the fund member must ideally have left their employment and their pension or provident fund and must be due to receive a payment from their fund. This may be if the member resigns, retires, is retrenched or dismissed. In a recent case where a former Western Cape policeman and father of two was ordered to pay over R344,000 in arrear and future maintenance from his retirement savings to his children, he was with the SAPS for more than 12 years before he was dismissed. Segalwe says if the defaulting parent is still employed, the party seeking maintenance should obtain a garnishee order in terms of which the defaulter’s employer will deduct the maintenance from their salary and pay it to the children’s guardian. If the...
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