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How much of my pension is she entitled to ?

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  • How much of my pension is she entitled to ?

    Trying to figure out how much of my pension is the ex entitled to and do I have to give her the money now.

    We were married for 16 years and have 3 children under 15 years of age.
    We have split everything else, cars, home, furniture etc amicably but she wants half of my pension.

    Am I obligated to give her half of its value ($190,000 so half is 95 K) now ?

    Can I make her wait the 17 years that I will have to wait before I get it. I also will not get a lump sum , I will get monthly payments.

    This is the most confusing part. Can anyone here simplify it for me ???

  • #2
    She's entitled to half the pension that was contributed to over the course of the marriage. So if you had the job for five years before you married, that part doesn't count.

    You ought to be able to go to your pension administrator and ask for an estimate of the pension division, giving them the dates of marriage and separation to use as end points.

    Then, when the equalization is done, her share of the pension goes into a locked in RRSP. It isn't given to her in an immediate lump sum for her to spend however she wants, it is treated like a pension.

    That said, you can come to a different arrangement, if you like. She might buy you out of your half of the house by letting you keep the entire pension, for example. Or if you have the funds for it, give her the amount in cash and keep the entire pension.

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    • #3
      A pension buyout can be a life-saver for the future. I was married for 14 years and bought out the military pension she was entitled to. Now that I am looking at earlier retirement from the military, I am very happy I did.

      Point on buyouts. Even though pensions are part of the marital asset, the courts look upon those entitlements as rights. I bought my pension out and it was put into the divorce agreement. Notwithstanding that, my ex-wife still petitioned the court twice for her pension "rights" after that and almost won in one case. It gets scary because, even though there is no legal entitlement for her to have it anymore, when she brings it up with other legal issues, the courts will let her at least present her case.

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      • #4
        Hi Kenny
        Thanks for your post. I'm CF too and divorcing in Jan/Feb time next year. Did you have a final settlement court order that detailed the pension buy out, or was that something that you and your ex worked out between you, without the court? I see you have a divorce agreement, but I'm not sure if that was a court order. I'm also scared my wife will opt for a buy out now to give her more cash, then come back for a share of my monthly pension when it is being paid. Post back here or Private Message me if you prefer.
        Rob

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        • #5
          Rob:

          First, no court that I know of is going to order that a pension benefit is NOT split unless both parties agree. To be honest, I was just plain lucky! To make a long story short, I bought the pension out during the final minutes of settlement and the judge accepted it. Therefore on the divorce order, she waived her entitlement to the pension. I will try to attach that part of the order to this post, but I have had poor luck with that in the past.

          IMPORTANT! Whatever pension agreement you enter into, make absolutely sure that the waiving of pension or buyout of pension is in the divorce order. If you don't, there is nothing stopping your Ex from applying for it in the future.

          Hope this helps.

          Ken

          PS. I could not attach the file as it was too large. Sorry. The wording was what I wanted to share.

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          • #6
            That's great thanks. I'll keep your advice in mind.
            Rob

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