Completed
Pension Division Review Project
At the outset of this project, it had been a little over five years since part 6 of the Family Law Act came into force (on 18 March 2013). Part 6 marked an important change in how the law deals with division of pensions on the breakdown of a relationship. Notably, the new part 6 applied for the first time to unmarried spouses. Since the new part 6 came into force, there have also been significant changes to allied legislation, such as the Pension Benefits Standards Act. As well, pension administration and family-law practice have both continued to evolve. The goal of this project was to take these developments into account and make recommendations to reform part 6 of the Family Law Act and the Division of Pensions Regulation.
Overview
The Pension Division Review Project is dedicated to a review of part 6 of British Columbia’s Family Law Act. When a spousal relationship breaks down, the Family Law Act provides for the division of family property between the spouses. Pensions represent a particularly complex form of property to divide in this manner, so the Family Law Act contains a comprehensive set of rules that apply to this process. These rules are located in part 6 of the act and in the Division of Pensions Regulation. This project also allows BCLI to build on past work involving pension division.
Consultation
The Pension Division Review Project Committee asked the public to share its views on 25 tentative recommendations to reform how pension division upon the breakdown of a spousal relationship is carried out. The committee sought input from pension-division specialists and interested members of the general public. The consultation closed on September 15, 2020.
Project Funders
The Pension Division Review Project was made possible by funding from the Justice Services Branch, Ministry of Attorney General for British Columbia.
Related Files
Below you will find additional, relevant and specific documentation, backgrounders, research, resources, media releases and summaries that have been, or will be incorporated into our final publications and study papers.
If you have questions about these or other specific documents, please reach out to BCLI using our contact page or at the bottom of each page of our website.
