QUESTION: Why don't you do a story about the pension law that states that the spouse gets the pension no matter who you have listed as a beneficiary.
ANSWER: We contacted a pension administrator on the island to clarify this often asked question. We received this response:
The writer is correct, section 36(1) of the NPL (2012 Revision) states that the spouse will receive 100% of the benefits in the event of death. However, subsection (5) and (6) of section 36 does allow for the courts to intervene if the member has left children under the age of 23 years old.
In my opinion, I believe it's still in the member's best interest to have a will in place so their personal representative can follow their wishes and so there is a document which can be used in the courts, especially for broken families or a case where a member has children outside of their current marriage. To be honest, death benefit cases with surviving spouses are dealt with on a case by case basis.
BAF has a useful guide demonstrating the changes to the Pension law over the past few days.
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