Self-Rep mailing procedures

[lee]

Help!

1)My lawyer sent me the Change of Representation Form to sign and return. To reduce cost, I signed and mailed original to her, sent a copy by mail to: the Supreme Court address on the form, my ex and his lawyer. Was this correct or should I have taken original to the courthouse in person? Need advice as to when to send future documents by registered mail, normal post or deliver in person?
2) When I propose to O/C that ex and I sign waiver of each other's pension, is there a official form "Waiver" to sign or do I just write a letter proposing this?
3) Should I be concerned that he is entitled to Survival Benefits on my pension but that I am only the Beneficiary on his pension? He's he allowed to change the beneficiary since we have not signed any legal agreement or divorce papers. How do I check if he's done that?
4) Is having him as Surviving Spouse on my pension and the fact that I can't cancel that without a waiver considered an asset which he must pay me for?
5) What is the proper amount of time to wait for an answer from O/C on any of my correspondance before I write another letter asking for reply?

Thanks again!

 

[Ariana]

I can't answer most of your questions but for information about serving and filing procedures see this web site:

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/family/guides/ocj/

Help!

1)My lawyer sent me the Change of Representation Form to sign and return. To reduce cost, I signed and mailed original to her, sent a copy by mail to: the Supreme Court address on the form, my ex and his lawyer. Was this correct or should I have taken original to the courthouse in person? Need advice as to when to send future documents by registered mail, normal post or deliver in person?
2) When I propose to O/C that ex and I sign waiver of each other's pension, is there a official form "Waiver" to sign or do I just write a letter proposing this?
3) Should I be concerned that he is entitled to Survival Benefits on my pension but that I am only the Beneficiary on his pension? He's he allowed to change the beneficiary since we have not signed any legal agreement or divorce papers. How do I check if he's done that?
4) Is having him as Surviving Spouse on my pension and the fact that I can't cancel that without a waiver considered an asset which he must pay me for?
5) What is the proper amount of time to wait for an answer from O/C on any of my correspondance before I write another letter asking for reply?

Thanks again!

 

[logicalvelocity]

lee,

the link that "Ariana" posted for you contains a wealth of knowledge in regards to family law procedures.

as per your questions:

1)My lawyer sent me the Change of Representation Form to sign and return. To reduce cost, I signed and mailed original to her, sent a copy by mail to: the Supreme Court address on the form, my ex and his lawyer. Was this correct or should I have taken original to the courthouse in person? Need advice as to when to send future documents by registered mail, normal post or deliver in person?

Somewhat correct. Take a copy of same and file it in person into the record. The court form was still served. You may have to complete an affidavit of service of how when you served it on the other party.

2) When I propose to O/C that ex and I sign waiver of each other's pension, is there a official form "Waiver" to sign or do I just write a letter proposing this?

For an offer to settle a letter would suffice.

3) Should I be concerned that he is entitled to Survival Benefits on my pension but that I am only the Beneficiary on his pension? He's he allowed to change the beneficiary since we have not signed any legal agreement or divorce papers. How do I check if he's done that?

If that is the terms you want; put in writing by way of a legal separation agreement. If none prevails, nothing would prevent him from changing the beneficiaries after all the dust settles.

4) Is having him as Surviving Spouse on my pension and the fact that I can't cancel that without a waiver considered an asset which he must pay me for?

At this point in time it would not be considered an asset. Normally pensions form part of net equalization and subsequently after the pension is divided there are no surviving spouse benefits.

5) What is the proper amount of time to wait for an answer from O/C on any of my correspondence before I write another letter asking for reply?

Good question, to me 2-3 weeks is reasonable.


lv

 

[lee]

Still confused about pension

Still confused about pension

4) Is having him as Surviving Spouse on my pension and the fact that I can't cancel that without a waiver considered an asset which he must pay me for?

LV replied:
At this point in time it would not be considered an asset. Normally pensions form part of net equalization and subsequently after the pension is divided there are no surviving spouse benefits.

Clarification for LV: I am 61 yrs old, retired and so is ex. The survivor benefit on my pension was set for life at the time of my retirement since he was my spouse. The only way to stop it is if he signs a waiver. If he doesn't waive it then he will get 66% of my pension when I die. I won't have that benefit from his bank invested pension and he can eliminate my name as the beneficiary. So my question was: is that 66% of my pension he will get when I die not worth something right now?

Thanks

 

[Linjohn]

lee:

I may be wrong, but it is my understanding that once you separate, your husband is no longer recognized as a spouse under pension law and he would not have a right to survivor benefits if you predecease him. If you contact your Pension Administrator, they should be able to provide you with clarification, and they should also be able to advise you if you can designate another beneficiary.

My STBX husband and I are still trying to negotiate a settlement without involving lawyers, so I've been doing a lot of research on the internet. From what I've read, your pension must be valued by an actuary and declared as an asset in your Financial Statement on the separation date, so your husband would theoretically receive half and would not be entitled to any further benefits.

You and your husband will eventually negotiate a separation agreement, so you may have to address this issue in that document.

Linda

 

[logicalvelocity]

lee,

thanks for further clarification of your situation and I do see the problem. The question I have to ask is what is your ex's position on the matter? Are they being reasonable.

I would also investigate with your particular pension administrator to weigh your options. Generally each pension plan has their own directives to follow and cannot be bound to the terms of any separation agreement.

To comment on linjohn post; If the parties were married, and subsequently separated but never obtained a Divorce-- the spouse could always bring forth a claim to their former spouses pension no matter how long they were separated. In essence they are still married. For former common law spouses, I believe the Limitation Act would apply for such claim.


lv

 

[lee]

Pension clarification

Pension clarification

When I checked with pension administrator last month and according to their booklet on the subject; once you retire, the husband at date of retirement is the spouse who gets the 66% of your pension when you die even if you have divorced and remarried. He would be first in entitlement; he gets everything and my beneficiaries (my children from previous marriage) get nothing. It's written in cement! The only way to go around it is to have STBXSpouse sign a waiver which is what I'm trying to do now! We don't need to do division of pension because we were married 10 years and both our pensions pay almost the same amount each month for life. Lawyers were pushing for actuaries....I ran out of money!

To answer your question LV my spouse has not negotiated anything so far in one year except spousal (the day before case conference). He is an abuser so you will guess the rest.

I do however like the idea of not going for divorce and remaining the spouse and therefore beneficiary of his pension if he dies.

Can you just stop half way through the divorce process and sit with a temporary spousal support order forever? I'm 61 so that could work for me since I'm not planning on remarrying real soon. I'm self-represented as of last week and if I could just get Division of Goods settled keeping the pension issues out of it, I'd really like to just stop the process right there.

Thanks again!

 

[logicalvelocity]

lee,

Divorce in itself is a separate issue. If neither party pursues same the issue remains in limbo. With that said, exercise caution. If either party passed away during the interim before the Divorce is granted (even if this period was a number of years); Either party could have significant grounds with merit to pursue a claim against the other spouses estate as a whole even if there was a will delegating the disbursement otherwise.

lv