Nominate Your EPF Beneficiaries If You Have Not Done So
It has just been reported today that “beginning June 1 next year, any claim on a deceased spouse’s Employers Provident Fund savings will only be paid once the claimant reaches the age of 55. According to EPF chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Zainol, this would apply to cases where a person obtained a court order stating that the claimant would get the contributor’s savings.” It is also reported that this ruling only applies to non-muslims in the country as EPF is not deemed as matrimonial property according to the prevailing Fatwa in the country.
My reading of the brief piece of news above alerted me to the possibility that this ruling only applies when the EPF contributor does not nominate any beneficiaries to his EPF account. Where nomination has been made, the nominees / beneficiaries do not need a court order to withdraw the EPF funds. It is only when there are no nominations that the EPF funds then become part of the assets of the deceased which would then be liable to be distributed together with the rest of the deceased’s assets. A Letters of Administration would need to be obtained from the Court.
To prevent the situation where the spouse would have to wait till the age of 55 before the spouse could withdraw the EPF funds, EPF contributors should not waste anymore time in getting a nomination done. Do not procrastinate as your procrastination could result in the long suffering of your spouse or intended beneficiaries. Nomination is a simple process wherein a form is required to be completed before an eligible witness and submitted to the nearest EPF office. You would be glad if you have made your nomination.
Nomination takes the EPF funds out of your assets. That means, once you nominate beneficiaries to your EPF funds, the EPF funds would not be deemed as part of your general assets which may be liable to be used to satisfy your creditors. Protection to your nominees is assured the moment your nomination has been registered. Not even a Will could revoke the nomination made. Only a fresh nomination may revoke a previous nomination. Such is the importance of nomination.
Update (25.10.2007):
The EPF has clarified on 24.10.2007 that the above reported news only applies in divorce cases, meaning that if the Court had granted one of the divorce applicants the right to the EPF funds of the other spouse, the successful applicant would need to wait till the age of 55 before he / she could claim the EPF fund. Sounds like a stupid idea to me. Why make the spouse wait till 55?
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3 Responses to “Nominate Your EPF Beneficiaries If You Have Not Done So”
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My learned friend,
Thank you so much for your exception. Much obliged. Yang Ariff.