Section 37C beneficiary tracing for retirement funds.
When a member dies, Section 37C of the Pension Funds Act makes the board responsible for finding every dependant and nominee before the death benefit is distributed. xverified traces and verifies them, builds the family lineage from Home Affairs records, confirms factual dependency in the field, and returns the evidence trail trustees can sign off and the Adjudicator will accept.
- Statutory window
- 12 months to trace
- Starting point
- Deceased member's ID
- Output
- Evidence pack per dependant
- Pricing
- Success fee, capped
The board must trace. The nomination form is only a factor.
Section 37C removes a death benefit from the deceased member’s estate and gives the board three duties: to identify and trace the member’s dependants and nominees, to consider their circumstances, and to distribute the benefit equitably among them. The nomination form guides the board; it does not bind it. A benefit paid to the nominee alone, when a factually dependent child existed, is the most common complaint the Pension Funds Adjudicator upholds.
The Act gives the board twelve months to trace dependants before it may rely on the nomination form, and it expects the board to be able to show what it did in that time. A letter to the last known address is not a trace.
Who is a dependant
- The spouse, including a customary or religious marriage and a permanent life partner.
- Children, including adopted children, children born out of wedlock and posthumous children.
- Anyone the member was legally liable to maintain, or would have become liable to maintain.
- Anyone in fact financially dependent on the member at the date of death — a parent, a sibling, a partner.
Three of the four categories only come to light by investigation. That is the part of Section 37C a tracing agent exists for. Our guide, Section 37C: what trustees must do to trace beneficiaries, walks through the duty step by step.
From one ID number to the whole family.
- 01
Confirm the death and the member
The member's identity is verified with Home Affairs and the date of death confirmed against the death register and, where an estate was reported, the Master's Office. This is the anchor for everything that follows. - 02
Build the family lineage
Home Affairs birth, marriage and death records are expanded from the member outward: spouses (civil and customary), children, and the children's own status. The lineage is drawn as a family map in the case, so trustees can see at a glance who exists and who was nominated. - 03
Reconcile against the nomination form and the fund's records
Every nominee on the form is matched to the lineage. Dependants found in the lineage but absent from the form are flagged as unrecorded claimants, which is exactly the gap Section 37C is concerned with. - 04
Trace and verify each dependant
Digital tracing for current contact details, then field tracing where it runs out. Tracers confirm identity, collect certified documents, take the affidavit for factual dependency, record the dependant's circumstances and complete the fund's claim and bank-details forms. Guardianship evidence is collected for minors. - 05
Deliver the evidence pack
One pack per dependant and nominee, plus a case summary that sets out the family, the relationships, who was dependent and on what evidence, and the tracing steps taken and dated. The board allocates; the Adjudicator can see why.
Facts the board can distribute on.
- Family map
- Every dependant and nominee, their relationship to the member and the record that proves it.
- Verified identities
- Home Affairs-verified identity for each person, with certified ID copies collected in the field.
- Dependency evidence
- Affidavits and supporting documents for factual dependency, age and income details, and guardianship or curatorship documents for minors and incapacitated dependants.
- Claim documents
- The fund's own claim forms and bank-details forms, completed and signed, with a bank account confirmed in the dependant's name.
- Tracing journal
- Dated record of every step taken for every person, so the board can show the twelve months were used in good faith.
- Exceptions
- Dependants who could not be found, with the steps taken, for the board's decision on how to treat their share.
Built for the twelve-month window.
A single Section 37C case typically returns its family lineage within days and its verified dependants within a few weeks, depending on how many need field visits and where they live. A backlog of unpaid death benefits is run as a programme in monthly batches, oldest deaths first, so the cases closest to or past the twelve-month mark are handled first. Priced on success, with a cap per beneficiary — see pricing.
Section 37C, answered
What does Section 37C require trustees to do?
Section 37C of the Pension Funds Act takes a death benefit out of the member's estate and places a duty on the board to identify and trace the member's dependants and nominees, to consider their circumstances and to distribute the benefit equitably among them. The nomination form is a factor, not an instruction.
How long do trustees have to trace dependants?
The Act gives the board twelve months from the member's death to trace dependants before it may rely on the nomination form, and sets out what happens if no dependants or nominees are found. The twelve months are for tracing in good faith, so the board must be able to show what it did.
Who counts as a dependant?
A spouse, a child (including an adopted child and a child born out of wedlock), anyone the member was legally liable to maintain, and anyone who was in fact financially dependent on the member at the date of death, as well as a person who would have become legally entitled to maintenance. Factual dependency has to be investigated, not assumed.
What evidence do trustees need before they distribute?
A verified identity for each dependant and nominee, proof of the relationship (birth, marriage or customary marriage records, affidavits for factual dependency), the dependant's circumstances (age, income, other support), guardianship evidence for minors, and a record of the tracing steps taken. The claim pack xverified returns is built to that list.
Can xverified trace dependants the fund does not know about?
Yes. Starting from the deceased member, we build the family lineage from Home Affairs birth, marriage and death records, which surfaces children and spouses that never appeared on a nomination form. Field tracers then confirm who was in fact dependent.
Do you advise on the distribution itself?
No. The allocation is the board's decision under the Act. We supply the verified facts and evidence the board needs to make it, and the journal that shows the Adjudicator it was made on a proper investigation.
Find your
unclaimed.
We start with a scoped sample sweep under a short engagement letter, typically 5 000 dormant records, so you see the recovery rate before you commit to a full programme. You pay only for beneficiaries we trace and verify. See how pricing works.