If we divorce, does my husband inherit my pension?
It’s critical to comprehend how divorce may impact your pension if you’re considering it. In the case of divorce, the majority of pensions contain administration provisions that allow the pension to be divided, subject to a court ruling or a written agreement signed by both spouses. When deciding how to divide pensions between married couples, the court must take numerous things into account.
A family lawyer is an expert in all things related to families and their relationships. They can help you with your divorce, child custody agreement or any other issues that come up during this process such as property division!
Ontario Family Law Act and Equalization
Pensions are considered property under the Ontario Family Law Act (FLA) and are therefore included in a spouse’s net family property for the purposes of equalization [1]. Ontario’s Property equalization scheme under the FLA is referred to as a “deferred community of property” regime, meaning that when two people enter into a marriage, each spouse will be automatically entitled to an equal share of the profits of the marriage [2]. The right to equalization is raised when a marriage is dissolved or one partner dies. When this privilege is utilized, each spouse is entitled to half of the marital property.
Determining Whether Such an Order is Appropriate:
Section 10.1(4) of the FLA specifies that the courts will consider the following matters when determining whether to order the immediate transfer of a lump sum out of a pension plan and in determining the amount to be transferred [3]:
- The nature of the assets available to each spouse at the time of the hearing;
- the proportion of a spouse’s net family property that consists of the imputed value, for family law purposes, of his or her interest in the pension plan;
- the lump sum’s liquidity in the hands of the spouse to whom it would be transferred;
- any contingent tax liabilities in respect of the lump sum that would be transferred; and
- the resources available to each spouse to meet his or her needs in retirement and the desirability of maintaining those resources.
Canada Pensions and Credits
Canada Pension keeps a record of each individual’s yearly contribution to their pensionable earnings under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Such pension contributions are referred to as credits which will be equally divided between each spouse when married couples separate or divorce [4]. Credit splitting is the process of dividing credits accumulated over the course of a marriage.
A family lawyer can help you with your pension plans and take care of any legal matters that arise in the process.
Married Spouses vs Common Law Couples (Canadian Pension Plan)
Common-law couples are not required to equalize their assets on separation. As a result, they do not have a claim to their partner’s pension under the FLA. Common-law spouses also do not share the part of a pension that accrued before the date of marriage or after separation.
Common-law spouses are entitled to Canadian Pension Plan credits that accumulated during the relationship. For all other pensions that don’t fall under the CPP pension credits, the traditional rules of family property apply. In order to make a successful claim for property, the common-law spouse must demonstrate that they contributed to the value of the asset.
To conclude,
Pensions in Ontario are considered property under the FLA and are thus included in a spouse’s net family property for equalization purposes. The court will order one spouse to pay the other an equalization payment to equalize the value of each spouse’s net family property if they are not equal. It is mandatory for married couples who are either divorcing or separating to split Canada Pension credits. However, although the FLA does not apply to common-law couples and they are not required to equalize their assets on separation, common-law couples may nevertheless be entitled to Canadian Pension Plan credits through an application.
If you are looking for a family lawyer in Mississauga to represent your best interest, then Tailor Law is the perfect place. They have years of experience in helping people just like yourself get through this difficult time with their knowledge and skillset that will be sure not only help resolve any issues but also make things go much smoother than they would otherwise
A professional demeanor can work wonders when trying win over new clients or keep old ones happy!
