Pension Benefits Division Act

Marginal note:Division

• 8 (1) A division of pension benefits shall be effected by

  • (a) subject to subsection (4), transferring an amount representing fifty per cent of the value of the pension benefits that have accrued to the member of the pension plan during the period subject to division, as determined in accordance with the regulations, to the spouse or former spouse, if that pension plan is a retirement compensation arrangement, or, in any other case, to

    • (i) a pension plan selected by the spouse or former spouse that is registered under the Income Tax Act, if that pension plan so permits,

    • (ii) a retirement savings plan or fund for the spouse or former spouse that is of the prescribed kind, or

    • (iii) a financial institution authorized to sell immediate or deferred life annuities of the prescribed kind, for the purchase from that financial institution of such an annuity for the spouse or former spouse; and

  • (b) adjusting, in accordance with the regulations, the pension benefits that have accrued to the member of the pension plan under that pension plan, notwithstanding the provisions of that pension plan or the Act under which it is established or by which it is provided.

• Marginal note:Determination of period subject to division

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1) but subject to subsection (3), the period subject to division is

  • (a) the period specified by the court order or spousal agreement as the period during which the member of the pension plan and the spouse or former spouse cohabited; or

  • (b) where the court order or spousal agreement does not specify a period as described in paragraph (a), such period as may be determined by the Minister, on the basis of evidence submitted by either of the interested parties or by both, as being the period during which the member of the pension plan and the spouse or former spouse cohabited.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), where the application is based on a court order and the order provides that pension benefits that have accrued to the member of the pension plan during a period specified in the order are to be divided, the period specified in the order is the period subject to division.

• Marginal note:Lump sum payment

  (4) If the court order or spousal agreement provides, or the interested parties agree, that the terms of the court order or spousal agreement shall be satisfied by the payment of a lump sum amount and that lump sum amount, together with such interest as may be required by the regulations, is less than the amount that would otherwise be transferred in accordance with paragraph (1)(a), that lump sum amount, together with that interest, shall be transferred in accordance with that paragraph in lieu of the greater amount.

• Marginal note:Death of spouse or former spouse

  (5) An amount that cannot be transferred in accordance with paragraph (1)(a) by reason only of the death of the spouse or former spouse shall be paid to the estate of the spouse or former spouse.

• Marginal note:Effective date of adjustment

  (6) The adjustment of pension benefits required by paragraph (1)(b) shall be effective as of the date determined in accordance with the regulations, which date may be before the date on which the adjustment is actually made.

• Marginal note:Notice of division

  (7) The Minister shall send a notice of the division of the pension benefits in the prescribed manner to each interested party.