Other beneficiaries
As a pensioner, your spouse will receive a spousal pension upon your death. In addition, you can designate a person other than your spouse who could also be entitled to a benefit. This would be the case if you were to die without a spouse, or if both you and your spouse die at the same time. A spouse who is collecting a spousal pension from the Plan can designate a beneficiary as well.
What is a Legal Guardian?
The children's pension is paid to the individual who is responsible for the care and management of the children of a deceased pensioner. This individual is normally named in the pensioner's will, or appointed after the pensioner's death.
The Plan will not pay benefits to a person who is not designated in writing by the pensioner or spouse. If no beneficiary is named, or the beneficiary is not living at the time of death, any payment will be paid to the pensioner or spouse's estate based on the last to die and the 60 months guarantee.
You have no spouse but have children under 18: The children’s pension
An eligible child is under 18 when the pensioner dies without a spouse while collecting a pension or a spousal pension from the Plan. If more than one child is eligible, the benefit is divided equally among them, and, as each child turns 18, their pension stops and the payment is re-divided among the remaining eligible children.
The total children's pension is the same amount that a spouse would have received, that is, 60% of the pensioner's lifetime pension. However if the parent was a spouse who died while collecting a spousal pension, the children's pension will be the same amount that the spouse was receiving, that is, 60% or 75% of the pensioner's lifetime pension, depending on the option that was chosen at retirement.
The children's pension is paid to the legal guardian on your behalf until the youngest eligible child turns 18, at which point pension payments stop. If there are benefits owed as a result of the 60 months pension guarantee (link), they will be paid to the youngest child once he or she turns 18.
You have no spouse or children under 18: 60 months guarantee
Monthly survivor benefits are payable only to spouses and eligible children. Beneficiaries, however, may be entitled to a one time payment under the 60 months pension guarantee. The guarantee states that if, when the pensioner dies, with no spouse or children, the total of the payments the pensioner received does not equal 60 months' worth of his or her initial lifetime pension, the beneficiary receives the difference.
The provision also applies if a spouse dies while collecting a spousal pension and the payments made to the original pensioner plus the spouse total less than 60 times the pensioner's initial monthly lifetime pension. In the case of the children's pension, the calculation is made once the last eligible child turns 18 and has received the final pension payment. In this case, if the payments made to the original pensioner, the spouse and all of the children total less than 60 months' worth of the original pensioner's initial lifetime payment, the youngest child receives the difference.
How to designate a Beneficiary
You should advise us of a change to your beneficiary by completing a Pensioner Change Request form and mailing it directly to us, or by contacting us by phone.
To designate a beneficiary, write to us, and include your full name, address, and social insurance number as well as the information about the beneficiary. Don't forget to sign your letter. Please do not send any personal information by email.
You can name anyone you want as your beneficiary – a friend, your children or even a charitable organization. If you want to name more than one beneficiary, be sure to indicate the percentage of any benefit you want each beneficiary to receive.
If your marital status has changed due to separation or divorce, be aware that under Ontario law, the value of the pension you earned while married must be included in the calculation of family property. Read our pamphlet “Your pension and separation or divorce” to learn about the process to follow should you find yourself in this situation.