One of the questions I receive from most retirement fund members is about who has a claim to their retirement funds if they die in service.
As a member of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) one of the most important documents you need to keep up to date is your beneficiary nomination form. This will inform the trustees as to who your legal and financial dependants are, as well as their contact details. It will make it easier for the fund to make the relevant payments, ensuring your family receives the urgent financial support they need.
It is important to note that while your nomination form can assist the trustees in identifying and contacting beneficiaries, the trustees are still obliged to identify all legal or financial dependants and ensure that the death benefit is distributed equitably amongst the dependants.
The trustees will do an investigation into the dependence of any surviving legal dependants. Legal dependants include a spouse, parents, children, etc. However, anyone who can prove that they were financially dependent on the deceased has a rightful claim on some of the proceeds. This could include a child from another relationship, a parent, or even another partner who was financially supported by the member.
Once the trustees have identified all the dependants, they distribute the benefits according to the level of dependence. For example, if a member of the fund was married and had one adult child who was employed, then the spouse would receive the full benefit.
However, if the child was still living at home, or studying, and therefore dependent on the deceased, then they could have a claim. This does assume that there were no other dependants. Minor children from other marriages or relationships would also be considered in the dependency assessment.
Benefits are based on how long the member was in service at the time of death. If a member dies with less than ten years’ service, the lump sum which will be distributed is based on either the member’s final salary (average of last two years per definition) or the value of the member’s pension in the fund at that time, whichever is greater.
If a member passes away with more than ten years’ service, a lump sum (death-in-service gratuity) is paid to beneficiaries and a monthly pension is paid to the spouse. If the member was a single parent, the minor children receive a child’s pension.
What does a beneficiary nomination form do?
A nomination form is completed while you are still alive and can only be changed by the member of the fund. It is used to identify potential legal/financial dependants, or other beneficiaries if you do not have any dependants.
If you are not married and do not have children or any other dependants, your gratuity will still be paid out to anyone you choose – including your parents or siblings.
The nomination form does not, however, supersede the responsibly of the trustees to provide for financial dependants.
If, for example, the nominated beneficiaries are not financially dependent on the deceased and there are other financial dependants not included on the form, the nominated beneficiaries may receive no money. Only in cases where there are no legal or financial dependants do the trustees distribute death benefits in line with the beneficiary nomination.
Make sure that the total percentage provided for each beneficiary adds up to 100%. You cannot, for example, nominate three beneficiaries giving them each 50%.
How does one prove financial dependence?
In the case of a spouse and minor children, financial dependency is assumed ‒ no further proof is needed.
Financial dependence can also be proved by a divorce order or by supplying bank statements proving that the deceased paid for certain expenses.
Tuition fees, bond repayments, medical aid and any other expenses that were paid by the deceased can be used to prove financial dependence.
It is important to understand who does not qualify as a financial dependant as this can become a contested issue, especially if there were relationships outside the marriage.
A financial/legal dependant includes:
- A spouse. In the case of customary marriage, if there are two valid spouses, both of them will get an equal share of both gratuity and annuity.
- A child under the age of 18, or a child who is still receiving financial support such as tuition.
- A parent who is receiving financial support.
A financial dependant does not include:
- An adult child who is not receiving financial support from the member.
- A former spouse or partner who has not received any financial support and financial support is not stipulated in the divorce agreement.
If there are no financial dependants and the member has specified the beneficiary on the nomination form, then payment would be made.
Scenario 1: A member has adult children from a previous relationship who are not receiving financial support. The member is married and has young children with the current partner.
Likely outcome: The trustees will only consider the spouse and minor children as beneficiaries for distribution.
Scenario 2: A member has adult children from a previous relationship and is paying their tuition. The member is married and has young children with the current partner.
Likely outcome: The trustees will distribute the retirement fund among the spouse, young children and adult children in relation to level of dependency. As each case is treated individually, it depends on how many adult children there are. Adult children are usually given a percentage not exceeding 20% if still studying. The age of children is taken into consideration when percentages are determined. The gratuity will be shared amongst all dependants and the spouse will also receive a monthly pension.
Scenario 3: The member has adult children from a previous relationship who are not receiving financial support. The member is not legally married but living with a long-term partner.
Likely outcome: The long-term partner needs to apply to be recognised as the life partner of the deceased in order to be recognised. If the life partner’s application is approved, he/she will receive a share of the gratuity and the monthly pension. In a case where the life partner is not approved but the partner can prove financial dependency on the deceased, the gratuity will be shared among all qualifying dependants, however the partner will not receive the spousal pension.
Where can members get the nomination form?
The nomination form can be obtained from GPAA regional offices, your HR department, or the GEPF website.
Forms can be submitted at the various regional offices, to your HR department, or can be emailed to enquiries@gepf.co.za.
Register your spouse or life partner
As your spouse or life partner is entitled to an annuity when you die, it is important that you register him/her by providing your human resources department with either a certified copy of your marriage certificate, customary union certificate, lobola agreement, civil union certificate, or a certificate confirming your marriage in any other religion.
This article was sponsored by the GEPF.
Hi Maya
My father passed away while in service 3 years ago, he was a SAPS captain . We finally got everything resolved now to the point where the file is back from SARS with the directive issued. My mother passed away 5 years ago so we are the only beneficiaries. We are 5 children all above 21 years of age, 1 biological daughter and 4 stepchildren. He had 32 years of uninterrupted service. My question is how do they calculate the benefit and how much is paid, because we are hearing a lot of conflicting information. We were all dependent on him in some way.
I will confirm with GEPF but as he was still actively working it is a bit more complex. Minor children are automatically provided for but given the age of the children, there would need to be proof of financial dependency – things like tuition etc are usually considered
This article is very informative.
My father passed away last year and he added myself and siblings as beneficiaries but our uncle assisted my dad’s ex who has a minor child my father did not acknowledge or believe to be his own, the ex-girlfriend refuses to get a dna done on the child to prove that he’s my father’s son. Our granny also assisted with filling out an affidavit that confirms the child belongs to my dad. Would GEPF pay out the claim to the child?
The GEPF would have to consider all the factors. If your father never supported the child nor did he recognize the child and if he is not on the birth certificate that may make it more difficult for the mother to prove dependency.
This article is very informative.
I am married to my husband for 38 years he is going on early retirement this this year , what is my portion of his Pension money, I paid our house off in 2011 when he was unemployed , i was the bread winner for over 10years ,
The fund would not be involved. That is a discussion for the two of you to have. He will receive a gratuity lump sum as well as an income from the pension. If you are married in community of property, then technically you are both entitled to 50% of your combined estate. He should inform you as to what his intentions are with the lump sum. Should he pass away before you, you would qualify for the spousal pension, which is 50% of his current pension income
Have not received my pension money
You can send me your persal number and contact details. I can’t promise anything but I can forward to GEPF
Good day.
My parents divorced when i was 15 years old and my father paid for child support until age 19 then he stopped, my mother got her share from the divorce so i would like to know whether am i eligible for child pension. He retired in 2022 and i am 30 years old now.
No, the child pension is only relevant if a member dies in service with a minor child. If he passed away within five years of retirement he would have listed beneficiaries who would receive the balance of the income up to the five year guaranteed period.
Good day Maya
I wanted to find out an affidavit was completed that I am financially dependent on my father my Late mother’s spouse..but I’m married would that have a negative impact on me being a nominee of her pension fund.. Does he get more due to the affidavit or what could that mean?
It would not necessarily affect the monthly spousal pension but it could have had an impact on her death benefits as the trustees would have had to consider all financial dependants.
I married in a community of property , do I qualify for a portion on gratuity even if my spouse did not nominate me.
Has your spoused passed away and was your spouse still working or in retirement?
I was dating a married man for 10yrs and financially dependent on him I have proof bank statement and we had a child together he passed away on1st of January 2025 will I get my share since I have a proof.
That is a tricky one. I think you should be able to claim for the child but I am not sure about your claim.
Can you please make me understand. If all my children are older and working, and they not going to get my pension fund and all should I die
The first 60 months (five years) of your pension is guaranteed. If you pass away before then, whatever months are left, they receive that income as a lump sum. But if you pass away after five years, then there is no payment to them.
based on your updated information that your spouse retired in January 2020 and passed on in March 2023. Married in community of property – even if he nominated his 2 children from his previous relationship, you are still entitled to the spousal monthly pension. However, according to the Government Employee Pension Fund, being married in community of property does not entitle a spouse to a gratuity benefit which means you would not be allocated a portion of the gratuity or five year balance if you were not nominated.
I would like to know my father passed away I we received the money he had been working for 22years so my question is are we fnf to receive any other money
Was he retired when he passed away or still working? If he was still working then there would be a gratuity paid and a spouse would receive a spousal pension. Only if there were minor children would they receive a child pension. If he was retired then his wife would continue to receive a pension and any benefits would be paid according to his nomination form but those would be once off
Good day,
My father passed away. he was a pensioner. my siblings and I all completed the nomination forms. It was processed and we all got the money. I then further received yet another payment from GEPF and my siblings did not receive anything. could it be that my Father had nominated myself to receive the money?
yes that is possible. He would have nominated beneficiaries and the percentage they should each get
Good day, My sister was married in the community of property; she passed away in 2020. She was very close to my mother, and to our surprise, my mother did not get a cent since my sister was married. How do we know if she was supposed to get something or if she was not added to the beneficiary form?
The trustees would have considered both legal and financial dependants. Legal dependants would be the spouse and children, if your mother was a financial dependant then she could have made a claim. Only if there are no legal or financial dependants would the beneficiary form supersede. Do you know who was paid out?
Good day my father passed away 24 years ago then I did make a claim on 2022 I’m still waiting for forensic Company to do the .investigation..so how long does it take
you would need to follow up with the GEPF or GPAA
should I die while on retirement and yet all my children are over the age of 23, with no spouse. will they receive the payout as listed in the nomination form.
This article may assist you: https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2021/10/gepf-pension/
If you have retired, your children would receive the balance of payments up to five years into retirement. So if you die three years into retirement, the income that would have been paid out for the next two years would be paid to them
The deseased was paying mantanance , of this child and he is out of wedlock . This child was not nominated as a beneficiary ,but l submitted all the documents at gpf . Wat should l do to
The trustees would need to take your application into consideration and rule accordingly
If my spouse is not nominated what happens when die?
your spouse is a legal dependant and will receive a spousal death benefit and pension as per the formula.
How long after submitting the claim forms does the pension get paid to the child of the deceased born out of wedlock
My late mother was the GEPF member. I have been advised to submit a funeral benefit claim after my mother passed away. I personally paid all the funeral costs and wish to make the claim as major child of my mother. On the Z894 form, Section A requires the Beneficiary Particulars, whose details should be provided here? The claim forms refer to Pension Number, Member Number, and CP Number, are these all different, but related numbers?
Please advise?
This is the reply from GEPF:
He can provide his details under beneficiary as the major child, and pension number is for active members and CP number is for members that are on pension, and member number is related to the employee number.
Hope the above is clear, he can provide either pension number or CP number depending whether the mother was on retirement or not.
The member has demised and the nomination form can’t be found from HR system and even with Gepf. What must the family do in this case? They looking for a solution help please. Nothing is showing on the system for the kids and the member was in a process of divorce with her husband.
The nomination form would not really take precedent. The trustees would look at legal and financial dependents – that would be spouse and children. If the divorce process can be shown then the trustees may take that into consideration. However, as part of the divorce the husband would have been entitled to a portion of her pension if they were married in community of property.
Good Day, my dad was a teacher for a long time. He passed away 13 yrs ago and these teachers were offered packages way before he passed. How do i find out if his children do qualify for these benefits?
It is not clear from what you wrote whether he was still working as a teacher when he passed away. If he resigned and took a package it is unlikely there would be any funds with the GEPF. But if he was still working or had retired with the GEPF, some benefits may have been paid to his spouse or legal dependents
Good day I would like to know when a parent as a spouse cuts you off financially from the monthly gdpf funds can the money be shared to adult children to support them selves cause they are not working and not staying at the family they have to hustle to make a living and money that’s been received every month is helping other family members except the blood children can someone help me about this situation thank you
Unfortunately adult children do not have a legal right to financial support from their parents. Interestingly a parent has a legal right to be supported by an adult child! Not much you can do except ask for help from the parent.
My husband passed away while still in service but I did not receive a lump sum payment, I only received the monthly pension. Why was I excluded seeing that we were married in community of property and I was dependent on him because I am on ill health retirement and on his medical aid. Only is children from a previous marriage received a lump sum. My husband however never declared to the employer or the GEPF office that we were married. It does not make sense however that I did receive the monthly pension payment and the subsidy for the medical aid but was excluded from receiving the lump sum of the death benefit claim.
That would have been a decision by the trustees. You can approach the GEP Ombud
I lost my partner in February 2023 we were financially dependent on each other.we have 2 kids and intended to get married unfortunately he passed before.his family is willing to write an affidavit to confirm our union.will i qualify for any benefits as we have been staying together since 2011.will Gepf approve our life partner application.
If the family sign the affidavit and you have children together, then yes, you could be considered as a life partner and receive the benefits as it you were a spouse
How long after submitting the claim forms does the pension get paid to the child of the deceased born out of wedlock. I submitted the claim on the 11th of October on behalf of my son’s and his father passed on in August
They have up to 12 months to approve the claim. The reason is that they have to consider all other claimants – so there may be other children involved for example.
My father passed away after being on pension for 1 year 6 months. He was a member of the GDPF. On the nomination form it was me and my later brother who has a minor child. I am an adult of 33 years who is working and I have recently found out that my father has 5 other children who are over 23 years old and were not financially dependent on him.
Can all 5 children claim even if they were not included on the nomination form?
Does my late brother also qualify for his fathers percentage?
The trustees would consider the nomination form. The amount indicated to your late brother could be paid to his child.
My wife worked for more than 29 years with no default,she passed away before doing 30 years,on her day of death,she was still a worker as human resource office as an HR OFFICER. Now what I want to find out, as a spouse in her pension with 6 children, what do I get, except for spouse pension or benefit if I can put it that way. She passed on last year.
You will receive a portion of the gratuity and a spousal pension
Hi my father passed away on February 2022 and it was his 10years a Member of GEPF and i just turned 18 on his death day , my half sister is 29 , i was told i’m gonna get my lumpsum when i reach 23 but i will get a monthly allowance till i”m 23 years ,so i want to know how do they calculate my monthly allowance and is my sister gonna get her share?
You would need to ask GEPF as it does depend on how many legal/financial dependants there are. Technically one could receive 25% of the pension benefit. The GEPF would assess what his pension income would have been had he retired on the day he passed away and then allocate that income accordingly. With only ten years service it would not be that much
Hi my name is Portia. My mom passed on while a member of gp. She was employed for 6yrs she divided her shares to me my 2sisters and our kids. So i would like to know since well she divorced with my dad in 2004 does my dad qualify for shares as she didn’t include him in her forms? Normally how long does it take to get the payouts?
If she divorced him before passing away then he would not have a claim. It is possible he already received a payout on divorce
Hi my husband was a member of gepf he passed away last year and he was not nominated me he nominated his only children I want to ask that as a wife I don’t get a lump sum from his pension fund
as a spouse you qualify for a portion of the death benefit. Make sure you enter your claim
Hi My dad passed away on feb 2025 and he was on pension.my mother passed away in 2024 and dad married another woman in community of property.
So my Question is my dad doesn’t have a child who is under 23 and my brother and i we’re the only one’s on the nomination form and we are both not working,still living at home and we were fully under Dad’s financial support.Who is going to get the money? Is it us on the nomination form or the wife?
His spouse will receive a spousal pension, but if he was retired then they will consider his nomination form for any lump sum benefit. The first five years of his pension income are guaranteed. That means if he died less than five years after he retired, they will pay out the balance of his income up to the five year (60 month) guarantee. For example, if he had been retired for three years (36 months) and was receiving an income of R10 000 a month, then there would be two years (24 months) left of the guarantee. 24 x R10 000 = R240 000. But if he was retired for more than five years there would be no lump sum benefit, only the spousal pension
My mother passed away in October 2022. My sister is the Executor. We are 3 adult children. My mother had no minor dependents or a spouse. If we are entitled to benefits, does each child make a separate claim of does the executor claim the benefits and then distribute it to the other children?
If there is a will, then that would specify how the assets would be divided. If she died without a will there is a specific formula that is applied.
In terms of her pension, the trustees would require information from each child. If none were financially dependant on her then they may allocate equally, but that is up to the trustee to decide
Hi, my life partner died and left the Will where he said I’m his life partner and should benefit from gepf. But now there is another woman claiming to be his life partner bt this woman is still married to another man
This is where the trustees will have to make a decision. If you are named in his will as his life partner and if you are nominated on the GEPF pension that should give you more legal footing. Unfortunately the trustees will have to investigate the other claim which will slow things down.
My partner passed away 12July 2021 at the time of his death we we staying together since 2017 he was divorced in 2020 December my life partner application was unsuccessful reason i was in cohabitation relation ship with the deceased while he was still married my question is what about the remaining months that he was divorced because i was financially depending on him
It is unlikely you would qualify for life partner status but you could still put in an application for financial dependency. You would need to support this with evidence that he was providing for you.
I was in a long term partnership with my boyfriend. We were staying together & financial depends on one another. We have a child together. I would like to apply for life partnership, everyone including his family agreed to write affidavits. I have a concern, once his family find out that I qualify for life partner benefits, all hell will break loose especially if they find out that I qualify. My Question: when GEPF do their investigation regarding the life partnership, will they mention to my partner’s family that I will get money form GEPF? I’m afraid that this will break the relationship I have with them, now because there is money involved. What’s your advice on this?
You have every right to apply as a life partner and financial dependant especially as a mother to his child. I cannot see why the family would have an issue with that. What is important for you, and them, to know is that there are additional payments only for the spouse or life partner that would not be paid to any other person. Eg: the spousal pension. That would be lost if you did not apply. I am confirming with the GEPF whether they would be obliged to share any information with the family.
Hi I got married to my late wife in 2019 in cop. I was a beneficiary in all her policies but she never updated her beneficiary on the Gepf she had nominated her mother as beneficiary. Unfortunately my mother in law also passed away a month later we did not have any children. in this case what is the likelihood of me getting the lump sum
As you are a legal dependent as a spouse you would qualify for the benefit
My father passed away in June 2023 leaving 5 children, two under age of 20 and 3 of us aged from 23 and 34, and wife which is our biological mother. We are all their biological children . He went on retirement last year June 2022 still within 5 years
In June we have since applied for spousal pension for my mother, we were initially told she will receive 100% of the death benefits and we were all OK with that.
As we keep following up on the process or status of the claim we are now all of a sudden told that there needs to be an affidavit written by father’s side family member confirming we are indeed the children of my late father. This is a surprise to all of us. Is this really done? And for what? They say they won’t process the spouse pension/benefits without this.
That does sound strange – drop me an email and I will forward to GEPF
Im married IOP and im blessed with 2 minors,oldest being 11 years.Is my spouse automatically entitled to 50% of my pension? I wish to nominate my beneficiaries but the spouse issue is puzzling me.
For eg pension payout =R100 000 and i nominate my 2 kids each50%. Does it mean that each child will receive R50 000 and my spouse will not benefit? OR the spouse will receive R50 000 and my 2 children then share 25000 each? Kindly enlighten me
Your spouse would receive a spousal portion which would be 50%. The remaining 50% would be equally divided between your children. That would relate to the death benefit as a lump sum. Your spouse would also receive a spousal pension income and the children would receive a child’s pension until age 22. This would be calculated as follows: they would calculate what your pension income would be as if you had retired on the date of your death – of that your spouse would receive 50% and the remaining 50% divided among the children. This senario assumes you have more than 10 years in service
My mother passed away last year, so she nominated my daughter (her granddaughter) she’s 11 years, so I want to know will she also receive child’s pension monthly from Gepf?
No, a child’s pension is not for grandchildren. But if she is considered a dependant, then she would receive a benefit. It is most likely that this amount would be transferred to the Guardian’s Fund as she is a minor.
Can us as the members kids qualify for claiming our late mothers lumpsum when the spouse is still alive
It depends on what her nomination form says and whether she died in service or after retirement. There would have to be proof of dependancy
Good day Maya, my mother passed in February this year while in service. I am the listed beneficiary. Will the GEPF payout both the gratuity and annuity benefit? If they only pay out the gratuity then what happens to the rest of her retirement pension?
Death benefit paid is based on the member’s period of pensionable service. It is payable to the beneficiaries of the deceased member or, if there are no beneficiaries, to the member’s estate. The trustees would first assess if there were any other financial or legal beneficiaries
Hi my dads retired last year’s this year he passed away. He was going through a divorce and it was not finalized. He has put my sister and I for his 5 year balance as beneficiarys. The spouse will collect his monthly pension. But now we find out that she is litigating for our 5 year balance can she still claim. My dad did that cause he new we will not get anything from her
This is the reply from GEPF: The spouse does not automatically qualify for the 5-year balance unless she was nominated as a beneficiary, however she does qualify for spouse pension as the divorce was not finalised yet.
They add, however, that she could make a claim that she was unfairly excluded. The Trustees may need to consider that but they cannot give her the full balance.
Hi if your father dies while contributing at the GEPF what type of member is he according the form?Is he a contributing member or a pensioner?
If he was still working then he would have been a contributing member.
He would only be a pensioner if he retired and was receiving an income from GEPF
Hi my husband passed away 18 November 2023. The other beneficiaries on his forms are not coming forward into finalizing the papers. Can my money be paid out I’m getting 50%
It is very frustrating but GEPF will only pay out once they have all the beneficiaries.
My husband was appointed ad a teacher in Mpumalanga in February 2013 and passed on in 2022 April. I will like to know what benefits are we gonna get from GEPF.
I am sorry for your loss. As his period of service was less than ten years, you would be paid out the value of his pension benefit at the time.
Hi my husband passed on on the fifth year working for government n we’re marred in cop will n he only nominated his old age brother on the nomination list what benefits will I get both me n his kids
The trustees will first consider you as his spouse and your children. You need to put in a claim. Unfortunately as he only worked for 5 years there will not be a large sum available
My husband died last year He was a member of Gpf but He did not nomineted me as spouse only the sister in law and nies and the not fanancial depadent to my Husband what is going to happen as our case is at forensic section
You are a legal dependent so you would be considered first
Hy my brother passed away and he was in a process of divorce he had already removed his wife as a beneficiary and added his child who is a minor and my parents, they had not been living together for years with the wife so we want to knw what the beneficiaries could do are they eligible…they were already going through court proceedings for the divorce and they were fighting about assets
That will be complicated and you would need to lodge an application with the GEPF trustees to show this. His wife could fight it and that would take longer to wind up
hi I’m now 35 years old, my father was a member of GEPF and my sister said we unable to claim the money due to the spouse passed away and my father didn’t nominate anyone
when my father passed away I was 21 years old and I didn’t receive anything
so I want to know if they are chances to get that money
You can ask the GEPF via the unclaimed benefits website https://www.gepf.co.za/unclaimed-benefits/
My husband was a member of GEPF ad passed away this year. He last updated his W1002 form in 2012. In 2018 we got married and in 2020 we had a son together. He has 4 children from a previous marriage. 3 adult children( 1 of which is under the age of 22, the other 2 are over the age of 22) and 1 minor. These 4 children are listed as beneficiaries but my daughter is not nor am I- due to the form not being updated recently. Will myself and my daughter be considered for a portion of the gratuity.
I am sorry to hear of your loss. Yes you both would qualify and you would receive a widow’s pension. But make sure you notify the employer and GEPF immediately
I am struggling to update my beneficiaries on the GEPF self service app. What should I do because I did submit the nomination form but it seems they are not updated on the system. I am concerned. Please reply.
Concerned parent from Rustenburg.
I have sent this query to GEPF and will revert.
Hi, my partner passed away in 2020 with cancer. We were engaged for 7 years, lived and bought a house together. He had cancer, so we could not take out insurance in the outstanding amount for our house. My partner passed away during covid 8May 2020. I have applied to be a lifepartner, as i was dependant on him to help with paying our monthly bond. My lifepartner application has been with the fund for more than 8 months now and have not been approved. Do you think i will be acknowledged as a lifepartner? No beneficiaries have been paid yet. I could give bank statements etc. To show that i was dependant on him, as well as gotten affidavits as per their request on the application.
I will ask GEPF what the guidelines are in terms of approving a life partner. Ideally he should have listed you as a life partner with the GEPF.
Alfred Mabina 22.02.2025
Good morning, my wife passed on on the 17.09.2022 got buried 24.09.2022. Because I did not change her surname after paying and the acknowledgement slip lost. The rest of the who took part in receiving the lobola money passed on. I have been staying with since 1984 . She started working for Tembisa Hospital as a Porter since 08.04.1988. I have two children with her and the elder one works for Department of Justice in Pretoria using my surname. I paid for all the expenses for her funeral and I made a tombstone for her. We were staying in the same house in Tembisa from time immemorial. I am still staying in this house with my last born from this died lady. I am carrying on on her expenses. I have all burial expenses slips. I can’t get affidavits from her families. And makes it difficult to proceed with the claim. But since the adults cannot they help me to convince rhe GEPF to accept my claim? Where else can I go or so because I have no money to maintain the house? Is there no way I can meet the Trustees personally to explain? Thank you.
Hi Alfred, As the children are adults they could give an affidavit that you are their father and that you were living with her. But has the pension claim already been made?
Hi Maya. I’m one 5 siblings. Our mother passed on last year September. My sister claimed the funeral benefit of R15000 without telling anyone. We now want to find out what is the best way to make her pay the share of that amount to the other siblings?
I doubt the GEPF would get involved now. Probably the best thing is to call a family meeting and have it out with her. Who paid for the funeral? That is what it was for
We all did contributed towards it.
My dad has passed away a month ago as a paying member of the GEPF. My mum and dad were legally divorced some 13 years ago. He has had a common law spouse since then with a minor child. My sister and I who were not financially dependent on him are likely not nominated beneficiaries on his GEPF policy. Are we by any chance legal beneficiaries on his lump sum payout?
If you are both over the age of 22 then you would not necessarily have a claim but it is worth submitting your details to the GEPF. They could still consider your situation
My brother was retired since 2010 and he passed away in 2020, he paid lobola for the mother of her 17 year old daughter, the claim was done for the minor child, is it possible for the woman to claim his monthly pension for herself
If she can prove customary marriage then yes, she could have a claim. But they would have had to be together at the time
Good day,
My dad worked for the city of Cape Town for over 22 years and as such, passed away a few days ago.
I am 20 years old (turning 21 this year) and was his eldest child from his first (and only) marriage until my mom and him divorced and he also had a partner whom he has 2 children with of which are also younger than 18.
My question is that my dad’s family were never in his life and now that he has passed, they’re showing up claiming that I am not due anything even though by word of mouth, it was said that I was nominated to get 50% of whatevers my dad was to be paid out but I am not sure how to go about verifying this?
Ps. In the same sentence, I was advised that because I hurriedly got married about 6 month ago (customary marriage, not legally) I am not entitled to be paid out anything. Can you advise on this or whom it is I would need to query this info with?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Firstly my condolences on the loss your father. The City of Cape Town fund does not fall under GEPF but the pension fund act rules would apply. This means the trustees of the fund will determine who receives the benefits based on financial and legal dependency. Children under the age of 18 would definitely fall under financial and legal dependency. It would depend on the rules of the fund whether you would qualify (some include children under 21 especially if still studying). The mother of the younger children would possibly have a claim either for the support of the children or if she was a financial dependent in her own right. The best thing to do is to submit your details and provide any evidence if he ever supported you or your mother financially (there may be a provision in the divorce agreement). I do not think whether or not you are married would make a big difference unless it is used to prove that you had no financial dependency on him. I would recommend you just deal directly with the fund and ignore the other relatives – they can can submit their own claims.
Good evening please enlighten me,my partner paid lobola for Mr in 2010,then on his gepf he nominated me as a life partner ne.with 50%.my worry is that i didn’t know he got married after me to the other lady i only heard at his workplace when i saw his death certificate says married and we have 3 children together and 1 child with the other lady,so what will happen to the monthly spousal benefit or will it automatically go to the lady with the marriage certificate
you can put forward your case to the trustees but most likely they will recognise the official legal marriage in terms of the spousal pension. But you could still have a claim to the lump sum if you were financially supported by him and the children would also be recognised as legal beneficiaries.
I am divorced. I have a minor child [age 17]. I am in a long term relationship currently. I have made my fiancé one of the beneficiaries but was told that he will not be guaranteed his share of my pension because my child has to be looked after first, but yet we are financially dependent of each other and he assist financially to support my child because his biological father does not contribute enough. If I die he will not be able to financially support himself or continue to look after my son, although he is not the biological father. We also were told that the biological father will have all the right to my pension which will go into a trust. So how will my fiancé be able to survive financially and continue to look after my son. Does this mean we have to register as life partners or get married if I read your scenarios above. He also indicated that he does not want to live with is father but want to continue staying with my fiancé and want my fiancé to be his guardian. How does the GEPF ensure that they are both financially secure ? I can not find information on divorced couples where the biological parent is still alive and the deceased have appointed an guardian. Do the guardian have to go to court to first apply for guardianship or will the biological parent become the guardian automatically and have access to the GEPF benefits?
This is from the GEPF:
The following options are available to the member to ensure that the fiancé and child are taken care of:
1, she must make sure that her nomination form is updated with people that she wants to access her money 2, She must nominate the fiancé as the guardian for the child should anything happen to her, which means the GEPF will send money to the Master of the High Court and the guardian will access the money on behalf of the child until the child is recognised as an adult.
3, Lastly, they can register as life partners but this is the last option if they do not do the above.
And a point of correction to the member, the ex-husband does not have access to her pension because they are divorced, I don’t know where she got that information from but it is incorrect.
Hi
I have three children aged 24, 15 and 9 years respectively. What is the best way to allocate my pension benefits as a percentage for each?
Kind regards
MM NTSEKI
This is something a financial planner would assist you with as you need to calculate each of their financial needs. Firstly, the 24 year old would not qualify for the pension benefit as the trustees would first allocate to the younger children. You could apply a higher percentage to the younger child as he/she will be a financial dependent for longer – ie: for education costs etc.. For the 24 year old you could consider taking out a life policy if you feel you want to leave that child some benefit.
Please clarify what Minister Mboweni said about withdrawing our pension funds
No one can access their pension funds unless they resign. That is the current position
My husband never filled in a nomination form, and he only has 2 adult kids over 22 who was not financially dependent on him. Am I then the sole beneficiary even without the nomination form?
The trustees will look at all aspects – if the kids make an application they would need to consider it. But this would most likely only affect the lump sum. You would definitely receive a widows pension
My father died in 1999 ,he was working for Government for 14 years are SAPS.and I have never received any money from my stepmother.I recently found out that I was registered as a dependent under her name.Can I still fight for my money?
To be realistic I think the GEPF struggles to keep up with day-to-day claims let alone going back 23 years. But you can try
Will my husband qualify for a spousal pension if we married out of community of property in the event of my death?
yes, how you are married does not affect the pension benefit on death – only on divorce
Good day
My mother-in-law passed away end of July. My husband, her son, is the beneficiary. Her HR department submitted all documents to the GEPF. How do we track how long it will take to get the payment?
It seems there were delays due to the admin pressure from the two pot system. Has this been resolved?
My aunt passed away few months after pension, she was never married and didn’t have kids.
How do we find out who are the beneficiaries?
You would need to send a query to GPAA – do you have any information on her pension fund number etc?
My name is Alfred. My late father was a member of GEPF since 1987. He recently died in July 2021.He was married and his wife is a GEPF member too. He is survived by three major sons from his marriage and myself. He last updated his nomination firm years before we could reconcile. Before he died he took an insurance and appointed me as his beneficiary, but on the nomination firm at GEPF he didn’t include me. Do I have the chances to claim. Will the death benefit be paid out at this period or might have been paid?I have since sent a enquiry to GEPF and I couldn’t get feedback, only to get information yesterday that all beneficiaries on the nomination forum have been paid.
If you were not a financial dependent and were not listed on the nomination form then the funds would not be allocated to you
Can I give my pension to a friend and make them soul beneficiaries?
Yes, unless there are other legal or financial dependents. If you are single, not kids, not supporting anyone financially, you can leave your pension to whoever you choose
I nominated my mother, brother and my 16 year son in my w1002 form I have a spouse but I didn’t nominate him because he’s working for government too.is he going to qualify automatically or he’s going to get only spousal support.
he would only get spousal support if not nominated for the gratuity
I have recently lost my father who was a pensioner, he retired in 2019 July. He nominated all his 6 Children and 2 Grandchildren who are minors. I would like to ask for the grandchildren as they were financially supported by him what must we do.
You need to lodge the claim with the GPAA.
If you are 5 children of the deceased and you claim your parents GEPF, when it’s paying does it process payments same time for all of them or it may happen 2 of them payed and others wait fr a period of time to get paid?.
Hi, my dad was a member of the Gepf. He was divorced at the time of his death. His four children received only half his pension in line with the fund rules. We tried claiming the other half of pension but was declined as it was for the spouse. There is no spouse and the final divorce decree he paid out his ex wife and there is no mention of pension. Can we claim the spousal benefit?
Was he in service or retired?
Hi…..My mother was a member of GEPF until she retired and went on pension. She passed on July 2021.She worked for almost 25 years. We only received death benefit of R15000. So is it only that payout benefit to receive?
How many years had she been in retirement?
I want to know my mother was died in2021 Was a peision You not married it is only one child it’s me
You need to ask her employer. All depends if she was still working, had retired and if she had retired – for how many years
My mother was a civil servant in the nursing profession, what happens to the money that’s left in her pension when she passes away?
It depends on how many years into retirement she is when she passes away. In the first five years, the remaining income up to five years is paid to nominated beneficiaries. If after five years, there is no payment
Good morning
Trust you are well . Being a GEPF member myself, I started to research the death benefits . My dad was a GEPF member for 36 years . He died 3 years after retirement.
My mom received the widow’s pension until she passed away. According to the GEPF rules a lumpsum will be paid to the wife if the husband dies before 5 years of retirement. My mom never received a lumpsum only the monthly widow’s pension.
I would like to know if she did qualify for a lumpsum.
Looking forward to your reply.
Kind regards
Colleen
Apart from the spousal pension, their is a guarantee on the first five years of pension income. This means the balance of the five years which in this case would be around 2 years of income – should have been paid out as a lump sum. That amount would have been paid to whoever your father nominated as the beneficiary on the nomination form. It is definitely worth finding out