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Table of Contents

1. How do I know what type of pension I have?
2. I belong to a defined contribution pension plan, why does it need to be valued ?
3. How long does it take to value the pension?
4. What do you need to value the pension?
5. I do not want to share my pension with my ex-wife, she can have the house...
6. When is ... ?

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How do I know what type of pension I have?

If you have a pension statement that tells you that you have earned a certain monthly or annual benefit then you have a "defined benefit" type pension plan.

If you have a statement from your employer that says that you have accumulated a specific lump sum, like an RRSP statement would, then you have a "defined contribution" type pension plan. Please contact us and we will let you know the cost to value your pension.  Our phone number is 1-800-891-9122.

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My buddies at work say that because I belong to a "defined contribution" pension plan I don't need to have it valued.  My lawyer says it must be valued.  Why does it need to be valued ?

It needs to be valued for two reasons.  One, you must share in only the portion of the lump sum that accumulated during your marriage, and that you must share in the "after tax" value.  The statement you may have been given by your employer may include value that has been earned prior to your marriage if you joined the pension plan before you married.  Also the statement will never show an amount for income taxes.  If you use this value you will be sharing more than you need to.

Two, your employer may not have made all their remittances to the pension administrator by the time your statement was prepared.  The only way to know this it to obtain your pension fund's value at the date of separation and at the date of marriage.

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How long does it take to value my pension ?

It can take approximately four weeks for us to obtain the information from the plan administrator.  Once we have all the information we can complete our report within one week.  A proper valuation of your pension takes time.  Please do not leave it to the last minute.

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What do you need to value the pension?

We need your signed authorization allowing the plan administrator to release the information to us. We also need our standard information sheet filled in.  This provides us with the important dates and other expected retirement income that we will use in our calculations.

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I have the pension but I just want to keep my pension and give her the house because she will have the kids.  I told her my pension can stay out of the process and we can save the cost of having it valued.  My ex-wife is insisting on my having it valued.  Who is right?

Your ex-wife is right.  If you do not have your pension valued, how are you going to know for sure that she will end up with more than you will?  Also, if you decide not to have your pension valued properly now, it could come back to haunt you in the future. You will save yourself a lot of time, aggravation and possibly money if you equalize your assets as set out in the Family Law Act.  Cutting corners today may result in future roadblocks.

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