Pensions and benefits at death

Québec Pension Plan

• You may qualify for the death benefit, which is taxable.
• If your spouse contributed sufficiently to the Plan, you may be entitled to a surviving spouse's pension, which is taxable.
• If your spouse had a dependent child under age 18, an orphan's pension may be payable.
• If you and your spouse had pension sharing, it will end at the end of the month in which your spouse died. You will then receive the same retirement pension (if any) that you were receiving before pension sharing began.
• Your spouse's retirement pension will stop being paid following his or her death.
• The Application for Survivors' Benefits can be used to apply for a death benefit, an orphan's pension and a surviving spouse's pension.

Supplemental pension plans

• A retirement pension can include provisions concerning your or your spouse's death. To find out what they are, consult these sections:
  • Defined contribution pension plan
  • Defined benefit pension plan
  • Simplified pension plan

LIRA or LIF

• Following your spouse's death, the balance of his or her locked-in retirement account (LIRA) or life income fund (LIF) will be paid to you. If you renounce entitlement, it will be paid to his or her heirs.
• The sums that you receive are taxable, unless they can be transferred tax-free, for example, by a direct transfer from your spouse's LIRA to your RRSP.

Other useful links

• The section What to do in the Event of Death  on the Québec government portal indicates the steps to take following the death of a family member.
• If you are the heir of your spouse, consult our Retirement planning section.