Families become victims of oversight
18/03/2007 Sunday Star By Leanne Goh and Joseph Loh

IT’S compounded grief when you lose your loved one and then find out that the nest egg from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) you were counting on will be going to someone else. Below, two women share their pain on discovering that the list of nominated beneficiaries had not been updated and a man who managed to change his upon realising that his will would not supersede the EPF list of nominees.

Case 1

About 10 years ago, Jane Gomez's elder sister Joyce died of a heart attack at the age of 46. The family was in shock but rallied around Joyce's two children who were teenagers at the time. The father of the two boys was not informed of Joyce's death as the couple had gone through a bad divorce and had not kept in touch for years.

“In the course of our conversations, we had spoken generally about updating the EPF list of beneficiaries and we said that we had better do something about it. “But shortly after Joyce's death, I was going through her things and came across an EPF form which she had filled. It was a form that had listed her two kids as beneficiaries.

Immediately, I was concerned that she might have filled the form but had not submitted it.

“Sure enough, when I took my elder nephew to EPF with the form I discovered, the officer checked and revealed the name of my sister's ex-husband as the sole beneficiary.

“Once we heard the name, we left without even bothering to check the amount because we knew that the money would never be given to the children. He hadn't even been in touch with his kids for some years,” recalls Gomez. Now, she adds, both her nephews are overseas pursuing tertiary education, supported by their uncle and aunts.

Case 2

Rachel Lee became a single mother six years ago. Her husband died of cancer while in his early forties. Upon his death, all his EPF savings went to his mother instead of Lee and her child.

“I was aware all along that my mother-in- law was named the beneficiary of his EPF money.

“He had named her when he first started working, and it stayed that way. “My husband and I always talked about getting it changed but we never got around to actually doing it. Then my husband was diagnosed with cancer and was ill for two years; the matter slipped our minds completely.

“Throughout his illness, my mother-inlaw helped out with the medical bills and forked out some money to keep his business afloat.

“I didn't feel bad that the money had gone to my mother-in-law because she had helped us out financially and we were living with her. But after my husband died, I wanted to move out and needed the money too for a house that we had purchased together earlier.

“In total, there was about RM60,000 in my husband's EPF savings.

“I only received RM2,500 and this was not from his savings; rather, EPF gave me that money on compassionate grounds. “My advice to those who have not changed their list of nominated beneficiaries

yet is to do so immediately. A lot of people have learnt their lesson the hard way, and you do not want to be one of them,” says Lee.

John Rajagopal, a divorcé, was under the misconception that his EPF funds would automatically go to his children. “I only changed the beneficiaries last year, after naming them more than 20 years ago.

“Back then, I nominated an old girlfriend whom I still keep in contact with once in a while. “The thing is, I knew all along that the named beneficiary had not been changed, but I always thought that my will would take precedence over whoever was named in my EPF file. But when I found out that this was not the case, I changed it immediately.

“Now I can rest assured that my children are the ones named as my beneficiaries and I know for sure that the money will go to them.

“My advice for those who have not done it yet is to do so immediately, otherwise you will have a lot of problems and the money will not go to the people you want to it to go to.”