.: Clearing The Air On EPF Nominees :.

Employer Provision Funds (EPF) or in Bahasa Malaysia, Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) has cleared the air with regards to EPF nominees during the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers meeting with EPF recently. One of the members had enquired about the above said matter and below is the reply obtained from EPF:

If a member has more than one nominee and one of the nominees dies during the member’s lifetime, only the portion that was bequeathed to the deceased nominee will be invalid.

Should the member later dies without updating his nomination, the other nominees will receive their portion accordingly. Only the portion that was bequeathed to the deceased nominee will be subject to procedures under ‘EPF savings without nomination’ in which the first priority for the right to claim the member's savings goes to the appointed administrator of the deceased member’s estate.

Therefore it is not true that if you, as a member, have named more than one nominee, the entire nomination will be void if one of the nominee dies before you. It follows however that if you have named only one nominee and he or she dies before you, the nomination will be void unless a new beneficiary is nominated.

Please note that you don’t have to produce the death certificate of a deceased nominee to change your nomination. You can change/update your nomination anytime by simply completing a new KWSP 4 (AHL) Form. This will automatically revoke any earlier nomination made.

The information concerning approaching EPF counter within 3 days to avoid EPF savings being ‘surrendered to Amanah Raya’ if no nomination is made or if nominee dies at the same time as the member is not true.

Depending on the amount of savings in the member’s account, if there is no nomination the procedure will be as follows:

If member’s EPF savings are less than RM25,000:

Ø Initial sum of RM2,500 will be paid to the next of kin.
Ø The balance will be paid after a two-month period from the date of the member’s death.

If member’s EPF savings are more than RM25,000:

Ø Initially a sum of RM2,500 will be paid to the next of kin.
Ø The second payment (not more than RM17,500) will be paid to the next of kin after two months from the date of the member’s death.

The balance of the savings will be paid upon submitting the Letter of Administration/Grant of Probate/Distribution Order/Faraid Certificate from the party that administers estates such as Amanah Raya Berhad or the Court or the Land Office, respectively. The process to obtain these documents is time-consuming and certain fees will also need to be paid. On the other hand, with nomination, no fees need to be paid.

This is precisely why nominating is very important. You should also ensure that you update your beneficiary whenever there is any major life changes such as marriage, additional new members or the death of a nominated beneficiary.

If you have any further questions, please contact the following:

Nik Affendi Jaafar
General Manager
Public Relations, EPF