R8.3m pension payout dispute ends in life partner’s favour

A life partner has been awarded a share of an R8.3m death benefit after the Pension Funds Adjudicator dismissed a challenge by the deceased man’s sister to the retirement fund’s allocation. In May 2024, a member of the Corporate Selection Umbrella Retirement Fund died, leaving behind a death benefit of more than R8.3m, which sparked a bitter contest between his sister and a woman known as ‘M’, whom the fund described as his ‘life partner’. The trustees had allocated the R8 330 764.70 benefit as follows: 45% to the sister; 45% to the life partner and 5% each to his niece and nephew.

The deceased’s sister and two children opposed the fund’s decision to classify ‘M’ as the deceased’s permanent life partner. The sister and her children argued that the deceased had nominated her to receive 100% of the benefit back in 2005, and that ‘M’ did not qualify as a permanent life partner. They claimed the trustees failed to provide full reasons, disclose evidence or properly interrogate competing versions.

Their submissions painted ‘M’ as a friend or colleague rather than a romantic partner. They further insisted that WhatsApp messages showed communication but not intimacy, and that claims made by ‘M’ were unsupported by independent evidence. It submitted that ‘M’ had been in a relationship with the deceased for approximately 20 years, and that they had cohabited in his Sandton home from July 2023 until his death.

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Before that, they alternated between her Rivonia residence and his own house. The fund also submitted that witnesses described them as ‘living together’ in a romantic relationship and the deceased allegedly assumed a paternal role towards the son of ‘M’, and provided consistent financial support averaging R15 000 per month. The fund emphasised that ‘M’ was referred to as the deceased’s life partner by his employer and even by the rabbi at his funeral.

The sister, meanwhile, was nominated in 2005 as the sole beneficiary. She was also the executrix of the deceased’s estate, worth R5.8m, and the sole heir.

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