The news in brief
The Supreme Court of Appeal clarified the duty to investigate dependants and nominees under section 37C. The reference to 12 months is not an automatic expiry of a dependant’s rights or a guarantee that payment will be completed within that period.
A Supreme Court of Appeal judgment delivered on 28 May 2026 examined a pension fund’s duty to identify dependants and nominees before allocating a death benefit (South African Retirement Annuity Fund, paragraphs 26–36). The decision concerns the statutory distribution framework, rather than ordinary inheritance under a will.
Under that framework, the fund must investigate the relevant people and make the allocation required by law. Naming someone as a beneficiary does not decide distribution by itself. The Constitutional Court’s Mutsila judgment also explains the distinction between the pension death benefit and the deceased’s estate (paragraphs 34–37 and 49–50).
The reference to 12 months does not automatically extinguish a dependant’s rights or guarantee that payment will be completed within that period (paragraphs 26–36). Information discovered later cannot simply be dismissed by treating the period as a universal cut-off. Equally, a family should not assume that every insurance policy or pension arrangement follows the same rules.
For a household arranging its affairs, a will and a pension nomination serve different purposes. Keeping the fund informed about dependants and retaining relevant family documents can help make the actual circumstances clear. A particular allocation still depends on the applicable scheme and facts; the judgment does not promise a fixed share to every person who was nominated.
Going further
This news item is part of a broader topic, which our page South Africa: adoption, child custody, inheritance and IVF covers in detail.
Read the page: South Africa: adoption, child custody, inheritance and IVF