SA De Facto Left Out Partner on Superannuation Death Benefit?

[sonay]

I am writing on behalf of a friend who was in a de facto relationship for 15 years. Her partner passed away 2014 while she was 5 months pregnant to his son. They also have a daughter who was 11 at the time of his death.

She received this letter today stating that their daughter who is 13 years old now will get 30% and their son who is 1 year old will get 70% of the superannuation death benefit...

Now can someone please tell us how they can come to that conclusion and why the mother of those children was completely left out of the benefit? For the last 2 years, she has been struggling as a single mother looking after their children and grieving with the loss of her partner of 15 years.

Thank you

 

[Lance]

Hi Sonay,

If your friend's partner was a contributor to a State Superannuation scheme, she could have applied to the administrators of the scheme for a spouses pension. That is detailed in the Family Relationships Act 1975 (SA).

If your friend wasn't adequately provided for in his will she could have applied for provision under the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1972 (SA).

Unfortunately it sounds like this information may be to long after the fact.

 

[sonay]

So what should or can she do now?

My friend has been living with her late partner's mother, who is the grandmother of their children. We think that her late partner's father (grandfather) is trying to claim the superannuation death benefit as well. When her late partner was 3 years old, his parents divorced and he was brought up by his single mother. He never had a relationship with his father, who is such a mean horrible lying person.

He is so horrible that on his son's tombstone at the cemetery, he crossed out his mother's name with black texter. Seriously who does that?

My friend does not agree with this proposal and has 28 days to do a Notice of Dispute complaint.

What are the next steps to take?

Thank you

 

[Lance]

Hi Sonay,

I had assumed that the requisite time frame to dispute had passed so I'm glad to hear it hasn't. Your friend really needs to speak with a lawyer skilled in dealing with probate. I appreciate your friend is a single mum and probably worried about cost but time is fairly critical. Some law firms may take on probate cases as a pay when you win, especially with a strong case like this one.

Please have your friend shop around. You should be able to find a few lawyers in her area at the following link: Find a Lawyer & Book Online Instantly

As far as her late partners father, her lawyer should be able to establish he was estranged and priority for any monies should likely be provided to the partner and the children.

Please don't leave this to the last minute, I would hate for your friend to not received what she is owed. Good luck. Please let us know how your friend goes.

 

[sammy01]

Contact the super fund and ask for a review based on the de facto status. They will want evidence that they were living together at time of death. But they really should be pretty helpful.

 

[sonay]

Hi Lance

My friend contacted the superfund. They said she can still access the benefit only when it's for the well being of the children. My friend is happy with that - apparently she couldn't prove she was in a de facto relationship even though she has 2 kids from him.

Hopefully none of those greedy buggers file a notice of disputes complaint...

Thank you.