Brothers excluded from late father's R7.6 million death benefit while his wife gets everything
Two brothers who were not listed as beneficiaries in their father’s R7.6 million death benefit sought relief at the Financial Service Tribunal (FST) where their application was dismissed.
Their father died in February 2021 and left over R7.6 million with Old Mutual Superfund.
Old Mutual Superfund allocated the entire amount to the deceased’s wife.
Aggrieved by the decision, the brothers sought relief from the Pension Fund Adjudicator (PFA) and argued that Old Mutual failed to investigate correctly and didn’t appreciate the deceased’s wishes.
They further argued that the adjudicator failed to appreciate that they were children of the deceased and the money could have been shared between the three remaining beneficiaries.
Moreover, they said the wife was financially stronger than one of the brothers.
However, Old Mutual rejected their arguments and submitted that it conducted a dependency investigation and exercised its discretion, the PFA upheld the decision.
To set aside the decision, the brothers approached the FST raising the same arguments they had made to the adjudicator.
The FST said records indicated that Old Mutual conducted interviews and identified potential dependants, assessed their financial circumstances, and exercised its discretion to allocate the entire death benefit to the wife.
Moreover, there was evidence that Old Mutual had complied with Section 37C of the PFA when allocating the funds.
“It is clear from the record and, in particular, from the explanations at various stages of the allocation process that, not only did Old Mutual apply its mind diligently to the facts it was bound to consider, but it also communicated cogent reasons for their decision to all affected parties.
“It would appear that the applicants (brothers) are simply dissatisfied with the allocation, which is not enough to support an application for reconsideration,” said the FST.
Consequently, their application for reconsideration was dismissed.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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