A divorce, separation from bed and board (legal separation), termination of living in a marital relationship or marriage annulment may have repercussions on your pension plan. If you are a DGPP member working in Quebec, New Brunswick or Ontario (in Ontario, the conjugal breakdown must have occurred after December 31, 2011), the DGPP will calculate the amount that could be split, upon your or your spouse’s request. If you work in any other province, the DGPP can only execute the judgment. If a credit split must be carried out, the DGPP will proceed in accordance with the terms of the court order. According to applicable rules, the amount due to your ex-spouse may be transferred, for example, to a locked-in retirement account (LIRA), to his/her pension plan or to his or her Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). This amount will appear on your annual DGPP statement in the form of a negative pension. This amount will vary over time and, at termination of employment, retirement or death, your pension value will be adjusted accordingly. This splitting might also be done if you are already retired. Your pension payment would then be reduced. If you and your common-law spouse stop living in a marital relationship, you can, within 12 months, agree in writing to split the benefits you have accumulated in the DGPP. Following a divorce decree, a marriage annulment, a separation from bed and board or, for common-law spouses, a termination of living in a marital relationship, a retiree may request that the form of pension be re-set as if he or she never had a spouse upon retirement. You and your ex-spouse could agree to split the pension credits outside the plan. In such a case, it would be important to have this decision noted in the court judgement
Following such an event, you may wish to designate a new beneficiary.
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