A South African woman who inherited about R5.8 million from her late brother’s estate has lost a legal bid to claim his entire pension fund death benefit of about R8.3 million. According to the case, the woman argued that she should receive the full payout despite the existence of a separate pension death benefit entitlement.
The Pension Funds Adjudicator rules that the brother’s long-term girlfriend qualifies as a legal dependant under the pension fund’s rules and relevant legislation. As a result, the adjudicator does not grant the sister’s claim to the full death benefit. The dispute centers on who among the deceased’s surviving family members is legally recognized as eligible for the pension fund death payout.
The matter highlights how pension fund benefits can be divided depending on who is classified as a dependant, even when another relative is named as an heir or receives money from the deceased’s estate.
