The Family Property Act considers your pension as property . Your PEPP account balance can be divided in the event of a spousal relationship breakdown.
The Family Property Act recognizes both common-law relationships and legal marriages.
Dividing your account balance
In the event of a spousal relationship breakdown, PEPP will divide your account balance under the terms and conditions set out in a court order or interspousal contract issued under The Family Property Act.
The court order or interspousal contract cannot provide for more than 50% of your current account balance or monthly pension benefit payment to be paid to your spouse.
If part of your account balance transfers to your spouse, they may open their own PEPP account and keep the spousal amount in the Plan or transfer their payment to a financial institution.
How to proceed
- Either you or your spouse may provide the court order or interspousal contract to PEPP.
- If your spouse notifies PEPP of a court order or interspousal contract requiring a division of your account balance, Plannera will notify you of the filed order or contract.
- You will then have 30 days to state any objections to PEPP about the division of your pension asset.
Calculation for division of assets
Contact PEPP for a division calculation. The first estimate is free. There are charges for further related calculations - charged in half-hour increments as per the Member Transaction Fee Listing. PEPP will deduct the fee from your account balance after we perform the calculation and before payment.
Spouse as beneficiary
Your spouse will continue to be your beneficiary until the spousal relationship is legally dissolved. In the case of a marriage, the spousal relationship is legally dissolved when the divorce is final. Plannera requires proof of divorce, such as a certified copy of the divorce certificate or Decree Absolute.
For beneficiary purposes, a common-law relationship is legally dissolved when you and your spouse stop living together for at least 90 days.