55Assignment etc of benefit

55 Assignment etc of benefit

55 Assignment etc of benefit

(1) A purported assignment of, or purported charge over, a benefit is void.

(2) Where, but for this subsection, a benefit would pass by operation of law to a person other than a person to whom the benefit is payable under this Act, the benefit does not so pass.

(3) A benefit payable upon the death of a contributor is not an asset in the contributor’s estate that is applicable in payment of the debts and liabilities of the deceased.

(4) Nothing in this section prevents the Board from making, at the request of a person to whom an amount by way of a benefit is payable, a payment of the whole or a part of the amount on behalf of the person.

(5) Any payment made under subsection (4) shall be deemed to have been made to the person entitled to the benefit.

s 55: Am 1987 No 219, Sch 1 (15).