When you join a retirement fund, you are required to complete a dependant and beneficiary nomination form. Nominating a beneficiary (or beneficiaries) for your death benefit contained in the fund is very important.

There can be no doubt that you want your death benefit to go to the people you want them to go to if you were to pass away during your employment. It is therefore vital that you complete your beneficiary nomination form and inform your beneficiaries of the benefits contained in your fund.

Please note:
• If a nomination form is not clear or is incomplete the benefit payment will be delayed for up to 12 months or longer
• The beneficiary form must be fully completed and signed by you. Any alterations to the form should be signed by you as well
• Your Employer must always keep an updated beneficiary nomination in your personnel file
• You must update your form on a regular basis and particularly when there is a change in your situation. e.g., marriage, divorce, have a baby etc.
•The percentage allocation to dependents and nominees must add up to 100%

Distribution of death benefits are subject to Section 37c of the Pension Fund Act and the death benefit has to be distributed to dependents as defined in the act. The trustees of the fund will finally determine who the dependents are and the apportionment of benefit to each dependent. It is therefore vital that you put ALL your dependents on the beneficiary nomination form and a percentage allocation for each one. If you leave out dependents it will delay the pay-out. If you do not have any dependents you can make anyone your beneficiary/ nominee.


What is the difference between a Dependent and a Nominee?
Dependents are:
• A spouse, including a customary law spouse or life partner (whether same sex or not)
• Minor children, including those adopted, from a previous marriage or born outside of marriage
• Other legal dependents such as a former spouse to whom one pays maintenance
• Other individuals who are financially dependant on the you (for example an aged parent, family member or friend)
Nominees are:
Any person who is not dependent on you, but who you would like to receive part of your benefit.

Make it easy….

It is recommended that you arrange with one of your family members to be the main contact and to provide contact details to your Employer in the event of your death. Also ensure that this person is aware of who is financially dependent on you.
Remember that the trustees of your retirement fund will use your beneficiary nomination form as a guideline to your wishes when it comes to deciding how to distribute your money equitably. While trustees must ensure that none of your dependants are left without support, they also can’t ignore those you nominate to receive benefits.

When deciding on how to pay out the death benefits many issues come into play, like the size of the benefit, for example. If the benefit cannot even satisfy the dependants’ needs, then obviously the nominees will not get any benefit.
Allocation where there are no dependents and no beneficiaries have been nominated

If the trustees do not become aware of or cannot trace any dependent of a member within 12 months of the death of the member, and the member did not nominate any beneficiaries, the benefit will have to be paid into the deceased member’s estate. If the Master of the High Court has not registered an estate, the benefit may be paid into the Guardian’s Fund
Master Builders KwaZulu-Natal are the administrators of the KwaZulu-Natal Retirement and Provident Funds. The benefits contained in the funds that we administer have been recently enhanced at NO ADDITIONAL COST to the member.

Contact us today to do a comparison of what we can offer you for the same value that you are contributing to your current fund.

Secure your retirement today, your future self will thank you!

Vishane Pramrajh | Employee Benefits Manager