Separation or divorce and your pension

Learn how a separation or divorce affects your pension and review the issues to consider.

Dividing your pension

When you become eligible to retire, the plan will pay your former spouse a monthly pension based on the portion of your pension they are entitled to. Your pension will be reduced by the share that is paid directly from the plan to your former spouse each month.

Your former spouse must apply to become a limited member so they can directly receive their share of your pension. You or your former spouse must:

• Submit Form P2 Request for designation as limited member
• Pay an administrative fee of $750
• Submit Form P9 Agreement to have benefits divided, if there is no separation agreement or court order that addresses the pension

As a limited member of the plan, your former spouse will automatically receive a copy of your Member’s benefit statement each year before you retire. Some information will be excluded to protect your privacy, but the statement will show your pension benefit, including your pensionable salary.

Once your former spouse becomes a limited member, they can receive their share of your pension when you become eligible to retire. This applies whether you are an active member and still working and contributing to the plan or you are an inactive member and have left your contributions on deposit with the plan.

If you stop working for WorkSafeBC before your earliest retirement age and you transfer your pension as a lump sum to a locked-in retirement vehicle, your former spouse, as a limited member of the plan, must do the same with their share of the pension.

After your former spouse becomes a limited member, they can name a beneficiary to receive any pension amounts still due to them after their death.