GEPF Spouse & Child Pension : Government Employees Fund

Organization Name : GEPF
Facility Name : Spouse & Child Pension
Applicable For : Government Employees in South Africa
Website : https://www.gepf.co.za/

GEPF Spouse Pension

A qualifying spouse or eligible life partner is entitled to a percentage of the annuity paid to the member at the time of death. The same applies if the member dies while in service and had a full potential service period of at least 10 years – that is pensionable service years plus unexpired years until normal retirement.

Related / Similar Facility : GEPF Divorce Benefit

Child Pension

In order to be considered for the benefit, the child must be a biological or adopted child of the deceased member or pensioner. Step children, or a child who was in the care of the member or pensioner, do not qualify for the benefit unless a child must be proven to be legally adopted or a biological child or the deceased member or pensioner.

An eligible child qualifies for child pension up to the age of 22, regardless whether or not the child is a student. If a child is disabled and fully dependant on the deceased member or pensioner, the child will qualify for the benefit until he or she passes away.

FAQs

1. How is the benefit going to be calculated?
Child pension is calculated as a percentage of the pension the member would have been entitled to on the date of death, or the standard pension the pensioner would have been entitled to on the date of death.

This means that the percentage that is awarded to each child will depend on whether or not there is a surviving spouse and how many children there are.

2. What happens with disabled children?
Disabled children receive child pensions regardless of their age. The child must prove that he or she is physically or mentally disabled and not capable of providing for him- or herself financially.

Once the pension has been awarded, it remains payable until the child pensioner passes away.

GEPF will perform auto life verification (ALV) once a year. If the ALV fails, a life certificate will be sent to the child. If the life certificate is not returned, the benefit will be suspended.

3. How must a child apply for the benefit?
A Child Pension application form (CHP1) available on the GEPF website must be completed to claim the benefit. Each child must apply separately for the benefit, using a separate CHP1 application form and attaching the documentation mentioned in the instructions.

4. What happens with late claims?
If Child Pension has already been awarded, and another child claims and is approved, the benefits due to all child pensioners will be recalculated based on the amount of children claiming.

The new child will only receive benefits from the date the claim is received. If the benefits of the other children have to be made less, that will be done from the date that the new claim is received.

If an over-payment was made to a spouse, that will be subject to the debt collection policy and process.

5. Are enhanced spouse pensions taken into consideration if a pensioner passes away?
No – child pensions are calculated as a percentage of the standard member or pensioner benefit. The reason for this is that the pensioner specifically pays for an enhance spouse benefit on retirement – not an enhanced child pension.

6. What happens if both the parents of a child passes on and both were members of the GEPF?
If both the parents of a child pensioner pass on and both were members or pensioners of the Fund, the child will qualify for a child pension from both parents, as long as all the qualifying criteria are met.

7. Is tax payable on the Child Pension?
Yes – the benefit is subject to tax. But if the child receives a benefit less than the tax threshold, there will be no tax deducted. If the child does not have a tax number, the GEPF will register the child as a tax payer with SARS and inform the child and guardian of the tax number.

Tax certificates will be issued yearly.

8. What about Life Certificates?
** Auto Life Verification will be performed for Child Pensioner exactly the same as with pensioners.

** If a Child cannot be verified as alive against Home Affairs, a life certificate will be generated and sent to the guardian or child. If the life certificate is not returned, the benefit will be suspended until the life certificate is returned.