Marital breakdown
Your pension is a family asset. As a result, if you and your spouse end your relationship, the pension you earned while in your relationship will be considered in the assessment of family assets for division.
Here are some things you need to know about dividing your PJPP pension:
- You are not obligated to divide your pension. It’s up to you and your former spouse to decide how your family assets will be divided.
- Your former spouse may be entitled to share up to 50% of the value of the pension accrued during your relationship.
- A breakdown of a spousal relationship may require a valuation of your pension entitlements. You can contact us to get the Family Law Value of your pension. As the delegated Administrator of the PJPP, OPB provides Family Law Values to members of the PJPP, and also to their current/former spouses, and authorized contact persons.
- If you choose to divide your pension with an eligible spouse, this decision must be documented in your Settlement Instrument (court order, separation agreement, family arbitration award, or domestic contract).
- Pre-retirement, the Family Law Value division can only be paid out as a lump sum. Post-retirement, the Family Law Value division can only be paid as a pension.
Who can apply for the Family Law Value?
By law, only the following may apply for the Family Law Value of a pension entitlement in the PJPP:
- member, former member, or retired member of the PJPP
- married spouse or former married spouse of member, former member, or retired member of the PJPP
- persons acting on behalf of the above with Power of Attorney or as legal guardian
To apply for the Family Law Value, you or your (former) married spouse must send an Application for Family Law Value (Family Law Form FL-1)
(opens in a new tab) to OPB.
For more information on pension splitting, contact OPB.