Your spouse dies

Québec Pension Plan

Death benefit 

Retirement pension

  • Your spouse's retirement pension stops being paid following his or her death.
  • 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.

Surviving spouse's pension

Supplemental pension plans

  • A pension plan may have specific provisions that apply in the event of your spouse's death or your 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 renounce entitlement, 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  • The amounts withdrawn are taxable, unless they can be transferred on a tax-free basis, for example, by a direct transfer from your spouse's LIRA to your RRSP.

Other useful information

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