Answer to a question from a reader

If I was a baby when my father died, do I qualify for the Government Employees Pension Fund even if my mother was the only one nominated as a beneficiary?

The short answer

Dependents under the age of 22 qualify for GEPF benefits. If you were not nominated, the GEPF has the right to overrule the list of beneficiaries to include you.

The whole question

Dear Athalie

My late father was in the military. I was born in 2003 and he died in 2004. My mother received some money from the military every month, but when she died in 2007, the money stopped. When my grandmother went to the military offices to find out what was happening, she was told that they would send her a letter, but no letter was sent. My grandmother decided to stop trying because “of the fight between families” and raised me on her social grant. 

I asked my brother, my father's firstborn from before he married my mom, to help me access funds from my father's pension. He gave me two wills, both said to my father's. There are some differences between the two wills that look a bit suspicious.

I went to the GEPF circuit office but they said because I was a baby when my father passed away, and he had only nominated my mother and brother as beneficiaries, I would not get anything.

Is it true? Do I really not qualify for any money?

The long answer

Let’s start with the last point about whether you were entitled to a part of your father’s GEPF money:

Maya Fisher-French in an article for Maya on Money explains that, even though a member must nominate beneficiaries, the GEPF trustees still have to identify all the member’s legal or financial dependents and make sure that the death benefit is divided fairly among all the dependents. A spouse, parents and children are all legal dependents. But, she goes on to say that anyone who can prove that they were financially dependent on the deceased member has a claim on some of the money. This could include a child from another relationship or even another partner if they could prove they were financially dependent on the deceased member.  

In 2018 the GEPF amended its rules to have child pensions instead of orphan’s pensions. This meant that children of the deceased member could receive benefits even if the other parent is still alive. The spouse could also qualify for benefits. But a child pension was only paid until the child was 22 years old. Children with disabilities may receive the child pension regardless of their age. Biological and legally adopted children may be eligible.

In a GEPF members guide it says that “…if you do not include all relevant beneficiaries, the GEPF has the right to overrule a Nomination form or to include excluded beneficiaries if they meet the requirements of a dependant as determined by the rules. This includes children born out of wedlock.”

As you are now 22, you would no longer qualify for a child’s pension. But it would be a good idea to investigate whether there is any chance of getting past payments for the years that you did not receive a benefit when you should have. You should contact the GEPF with a certified copy of your ID and any documents that you have of your father’s, to prove that you should have received benefits.

You could also ask the GEPF why your late father’s military pension was stopped after your mother died in 2007, when you were a dependent child of four years old.  

These are the GEPF’s contact details:

 

Moving on now to the question of the two wills:

The first point to note is that the courts have found that a person making a will (a testator) can change their mind about who they leave their money to, at any time before their death. The testator can change their will if they want to.

A commissioner of oaths is required to stamp the will when the testator is unable to write their name and can only make a mark. In that case, the commissioner of oaths must stamp the will to prove that it was the testator who made it.

Perhaps the best thing to do is to take both wills to Legal Aid, which is a mean-tested organisation that must assist people who can’t afford a lawyer and ask them to help you understand it. 

These are their contact details:

  • Legal Aid

  • Tel: 0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm) 

  • Please Call Me: 079 835 7179 

  • Email: [email protected]

You could also ask ProBono.org for free paralegal advice at:

Wishing you the best,
Athalie

Answered on April 3, 2025, 4:06 p.m.

Inheritance

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