BCLI Seeks Input on Proposals to Reform Pension Division

by the British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI)

Can you share your views on the 25 tentative recommendations to reform how pension division is carried out when separating?

The project

The BCLI’s Pension Division Review Project Committee is asking the public to share its views on tentative recommendations to reform how pension division upon the breakdown of a spousal relationship is carried out, in its just-published Consultation Paper on Pension Division: A Review of Part 6 of the Family Law Act.

“The committee has examined part 6 and found it’s generally working well,” noted committee chair Colin Galinski, “but there are areas that could be improved. We hope to hear from pension and family-law specialists and the general public on what they think about our proposed reforms.”

Tentative recommendations for reform

The consultation paper contains 25 tentative recommendations for reform, addressing the following topics: transitional provisions; private annuities; disability benefits; waiving survivor benefits after pension commencement; commuted value: transfer and calculation; locked-in retirement accounts and life income funds; death of a spouse before becoming a limited member; administrative fees; and forms.

How to share your views

Go to the BCLI’s website, where you can find:

  • the consultation paper,
  • a backgrounder summarizing its contents,
  • a response booklet, and
  • a link to the committee’s survey

The committee seeks input from pension-division specialists and interested members of the general public until September 15, 2020.

About the British Columbia Law Institute

The British Columbia Law Institute was created in 1997 by incorporation under the provincial Society Act. Its purposes are to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its adaptation to modern social needs, promote the improvement of the administration of justice and respect for the rule of law, and promote and carry out scholarly legal research.

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We share with you a monthly roundup of changes to Clicklaw’s collection. Here is a summary of updates done in June 2020. For resources specific to pandemic responses, go to Covid-19 Resources for British Columbians (bit.ly/covid19bc).

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