The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has posted revised family law forms which plan administrators, plan members and their spouses/former spouses must use when plan members or their spouses are seeking a valuation and division of pension assets on marriage breakdown.

Plan members and/or their spouses/former spouses must use these new forms immediately when communicating with the plan administrator, as they came into force effective January 1, 2013. Plan administrators, however, may continue to use the 2012 forms – specifically, Forms 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 1A – until June 30, 2013. FSCO has provided this six-month transition period to allow plan administrators who may have pre-populated 2012 forms to update their systems.

To assist plan administrators, members and their spouses/former spouses in completing the forms, FSCO has also posted User Guides and Questions and Answers.

For more information on the rules regarding pension division on marriage breakdown, please view our webinar.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.