Frequently people are not aware that by law they qualify to receive payment from a spouse’s pension fund in a divorce matter. Especially where they were married in community of property and the joint estate was divided equally between the parties. Section 1 of the Divorce Act 70 of 1979 clearly states that a pension fund is deemed part of a joint estate for purposes of the divorce. This confusion is even more true in cases where the pension fund in question is the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) as the GEPF is governed by a different act than other Pension Funds.

Previously awards such as these were made in divorce orders, but the payment thereof was only enforceable once the member of the pension fund retired was retrenched or died. Now the payment is enforceable once the divorce order is granted. But often the pension fund confuses the entitled person to such an extent that they give up on the quest to receive these payments, which often run in the region of hundreds of thousands of rand.

If you are unsure of your rights, don’t hesitate contacting us.