Does a provident fund form part of the estate of a deceased member?

Question:

my father passed away and left the affidavit that states that i'm his legal heir and has two children and was separated to my mom but there were still married but now the employer said that the provident fund will shared by my mom and his girlfriend and me and my younger brother were are not included,so i need to know what must i do because the provident fund adjudicator failed to assist me

Answer:

Rethabile

You have two problems. Firstly, an affidavit is not the same as a will, and unless it complies with the requirements of a legal will, it will not be seen as such. Secondly, even if he left a valid will, the provident would not fall into your late father's estate and would therefore not be subject to the will.

The provident fund trustees must decide - per the Pension Funds Act - who gets the death benefit. They must ensure that all you late father's financial dependants are provided for. If you and your brother were still financially dependant on your father, then you should have shared in the pay-out. However, if both of you are adults, and you are (or should be) supporting yourself, then the trustees will allocate the money to those who were still reliant on him (such as perhaps your mother and his partner at the time of his passing).

It appears that the Pension Funds Adjudicator has already rules on this matter. She would have done so according to the law and the facts, so it appears there is little point in pursuing this matter any further.

If your appeal was simply ignored or returned unanswered, it may be because you did not follow the proper process and did not first lodge a formal compliant with the responsible fund administrator. So you need to exhaust that process first, before you turn to the PFA.