My daughter stole my deceased mother's documents so she can claim her funeral policy. Please help me!

The long answer

Stealing documents of a deceased grandmother so that she can claim the funeral policy is a very serious offence, as well as being a sad one for you, as her mother.

It’s worth knowing that under the South African law of succession, if a beneficiary steals, destroys the will, or commits fraud to benefit from an estate, they automatically forfeit the right to inherit anything from that estate. 

Moonstone says that ASISA (The Association for Savings and Investment South Africa ) reported that the highest incidence of fraud and dishonesty across the industry was to do with funeral insurance. 

This was because funeral insurance policies do not require blood tests and medical examinations and are designed to pay out quickly when an insured family member dies. ASISA said that this created opportunities for misrepresentation.

Momentum Metropolitan added that “market demands in terms of quick turnaround times at the claim stage, put insurers under pressure to pay claims quickly.”

The first thing to do would be to contact the funeral policy company and tell them what has happened, so that they can freeze the policy and prevent a wrongful payout to your daughter.

You can also contact the National Financial Ombud Scheme (NFOSA) to help prevent a wrongful payout from the insurer.

These are their contact details:

• Contact Centre: Call 0860 800 900.

• Email: info@nfosa.co.za.

But unpleasant as it would be for you, you may also have to report it to your local police station. It is a criminal offence to steal personal documents to make a fraudulent claim. 

If you need help with all of this, you can ask the Black Sash which gives free paralegal advice. These are their contact details:

• Black Sash

• Email: help@blacksash.org.za and info@blacksash.org.za

• Tel (national office): 021 686 6952

• Helpline: 072 66 33 73, 072 633 3739 or 063 610 1865.

Wishing you the best,
Athalie