Benefits accumulated during the marriage
Important Notice
Please consult
Newsletter number 32,
Amendments to the Regulation respecting supplemental pension plans effective 4 January 2018, as well as
division V – Transfer of benefits between spouses 
of the
Regulation respecting supplemental pension plans, to find out the rules for partition applicable to spouses in a civil union, the changes to the payment methods applicable to the former spouse, and the calculation of member benefits after partition.
The rules for calculating benefits accumulated during the marriage only apply to married spouses. The plan administrator does not have to calculate an equivalent value for de facto (common law) spouses.
Pension benefits
With regard to pension benefits, the most common way to calculate the value of the portion accumulated during the marriage is the following:
Calculation of participation
In all of the formulas involving participation, the period of participation is calculated in months, a part of a month being considered as a full month. For example, if participation began on 25 October 2005 and the institution of the action took place on 5 November 2005, the period would be considered to be 2 months.
However, if provided for by the text of the plan, participation can be calculated in days.
Example
Information concerning a member:
| Membership: | March 1983 |
| Marriage: | July 1990 |
| Institution of the action: | November 2002 |
| Value of the deferred pension | 55 400 $ |
| Excess member contributions: | 55 400 $ |
| Additional pension benefit : | 0 $ |
|
| Total value of the benefits : | 67 700 $ |
| Value of the benefits accumulated during the marriage: | 67 700 $ X 149 months / 237 months = 42 562,45 $ |
Capital benefits
With regard to capital benefits, the most common way to calculate the value of the portion accumulated during the marriage is the following:
|
Value accumulated during the marriage = | | | Account balance at the valuation date | | – | | Account balance at the date of marriage + interest up to the valuation date | | |
|
Other formulas
Other formulas may apply in the following situations:
- when the account balance (capital benefits) at the date of marriage is unknown
- when the account balance or the value of the benefits at the valuation date is unknown
- when the benefits include amounts transferred from another plan
- when the benefits were previously partitioned
- when an early benefit was paid during the marriage
- when a transfer was made during the marriage for payment of a temporary income
The mathematical formulas for calculating the value of benefits under a supplemental pension plan in the event of a conjugal breakdown can be consulted online.
For more information