Death of a spouse

Québec Pension Plan

You could receive a death benefit. This benefit is taxable.
If your spouse contributed sufficiently to the Plan, you may be entitled to a surviving spouse's pension, which is taxable. If you are already receiving your retirement pension, it will be combined with your surviving spouse's pension and paid in a single monthly amount.
Your spouse's retirement pension will stop being paid following his or her death.
To apply for a surviving spouse's pension, use the online Application for Survivors' Benefits.
At age 65, if you are receiving the maximum retirement pension payable according to the age at which you began receiving it, your surviving spouse's pension may be reduced to zero.
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 defined benefit pension plan, defined contribution pension plan or simplified pension plan may provide for specific provisions in the event of your death or your spouse's death.

Following the death of your spouse, the balance in his or her locked-in retirement account (LIRA) or life income fund (LIF) will be paid to you. If you have renounced it, it will be paid to his or her heirs.
The amounts withdrawn are taxable, unless they can be transferred on a tax-free basis, for example, a direct transfer from your spouse's LIRA to your RRSP.
Useful link

See our section about death.