Question:
Hi my father passed away in 1998 I received a lump sum in 2009 when I was 21 years old. But my sisters were told that I'm the one who has their money I'm confused and that break us apart. I later find out that my grandmother was receiving a monthly outkeep from gepf under my name and I was not living with her. Is there any money gepf can give my 2 sisters? How can I be a guardian of other children while I was a child myself?
Answer:
Nokwanda, Please note that we are 10X investments, not the GEPF. There are essentially two ways in which the trustees can deal with the portion of the death benefit related to minor children. The first way is to pay the money to the children's guardian, if they are satisfied that the guardian will use the money to provide maintain the children. The second way is to place the money in a beneficiaries fund, and to pay the guardian a monthly income, to cover the cost of child maintenance. Any remaining balance is paid to child on reaching 18 or 21. In your case it appears that your money was paid into a beneficiaries fund, whereas the money for your sisters was paid to the grandmother. Why that would have been under your name is not clear. You should clarify with the GEPF how the death benefit was allocated initially among the children and whether they did not create separate beneficiaries fund for the sisters. If they only set up one fund, to cover all three siblings (unlikely) then you would have to share this money with your siblings.
