If you have a qualifying spouse and you die before starting your pension, your spouse will receive a death benefit equal to
Your surviving spouse can elect to do one of the following:
If no pre-retirement death benefit is payable to a qualifying spouse, each dependent child will receive a monthly child’s pension until they cease to qualify as a dependent child.
A dependent child is a natural or adopted child who is under the age of 18, or age 18‒24 if still in school.
If no pre-retirement death benefit is payable to a qualifying spouse or dependent child, your designated beneficiary, or your estate in the absence of a beneficiary, will receive a taxable refund of the value of the pension.
If you have a qualifying spouse and you die after your pension begins, your surviving spouse will receive the survivor benefit according to the form of pension you chose at retirement.
Each dependent child may be eligible to receive a monthly child’s pension until they cease to qualify as a dependent child. Whether any pension is payable depends on the amount of any survivor pension payable to a qualifying spouse.
A dependent child is a natural or adopted child who is under the age of 18, or age 18‒24 if still in school.
If you do not have a qualifying spouse, any remaining guaranteed payments will be paid to your designated beneficiary, or your estate in the absence of a beneficiary, as a lump sum.
Pension assets are family property and can be divided between spouses on marital breakdown, although this is not mandatory in most jurisdictions.
The value of the pension credit you accrue during the spousal relationship is generally included in your assets when calculating family property. In some jurisdictions, this value is calculated by the pension plan administrator when one of the spouses applies and pays a fee. In other jurisdictions, the spouses arrange their own calculations.
If a family property equalization payment is owing from the member spouse to the non-member spouse, the member is not required to split their pension to satisfy that payment if other assets are transferred to the non-member spouse. Similarly, spousal support/maintenance can but is not required to be satisfied through a pension split.
A court order or separation agreement must specifically require a split of the pension. The pension plan administrator will administer each split within the parameters of the order/agreement subject to the requirements of pension legislation.
