Partition of employment earnings under the Québec Pension Plan for de facto spouses
De facto spouses are not affected by the rules governing family patrimony. Nevertheless, if de facto spouses separate, they can file for partition of employment earnings under the Québec Pension Plan or, if applicable, under the Canada Pension Plan.
Therefore, partition is not automatic; both spouses must file a joint application.
To file for partition, spouses must meet the following three conditions:
- They must have lived in a conjugal relationship for at least three years, or for at least one year if a child was born or is to be born of their union or if they adopted a child together.
- They must have been separated for at least 12 months.
- None of the spouses have been married to or in a civil union with another person at the time of separation.
Advantages of partition
- Even if the former spouses earn the same salary, partition could be advantageous. For example, if one of the spouses left his or her job to go with the other spouse to a foreign country, started his or her own business or went back to school, it is likely that during those years, no amounts were recorded under his or her Québec Pension Plan or, if applicable, under the Canada Pension Plan. Partition could have a significant impact on a future retirement pension.
- If one of the spouses has never worked, partition could render him or her eligible for a retirement pension, disability benefits or render his or her family members for survivors' benefits.
Québec Pension Plan
The Québec Pension Plan is a compulsory public insurance plan for workers age 18 and over whose annual employment income is greater than $3500. The Plan is funded by contributions made by workers and employers. Workers who made sufficient contributions to the Plan can be entitled to different pensions and benefits for themselves and their family members. Following a separation, the earnings recorded under the Plan during the union can be subject to partition.
Period of calculation for partition
Partition of employment earnings recorded under the Plan consist in adding the employment earnings recorded under the name of each spouse during their union and divide them in equal shares
between them.
The period subject to partition is always determined in terms of full years.
For
de facto spouses, the period subject to partition begins on 1 January of the year they started living together and ends on 31 December of the year preceding the end of the period of cohabitation.
The recognition of unions by the Québec Pension Plan
De facto union
A de facto union exists when a couple lives together and whether or not they start a family.
Therefore, these two people are de facto spouses, meaning they cohabit without being married or in a civil union.
The recognition of a union and the definition of a de facto spouse can vary from one program to another, based on the number of years of cohabitation or if a child is born from this union.
The steps for partition of earnings
The simulation makes it possible to know if partition of the employment earnings recorded under the Québec Pension Plan or, if applicable, under the Canada Pension Plan with those of the former spouse will be advantageous.
When former spouses request a simulation, Retraite Québec quickly sends an estimate of the retirement pension before and after partition.
The simulation includes:
- a table of the employment earnings recorded under the Québec Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan for the period of the union
- an estimate of the applicant's retirement pension amount before and after partition
- an estimate of the former spouse's pension, with his or her consent.
The simulation provides information to help spouses make a decision and does not initiate the official partition process. The application can be filed by spouses, attorneys, mediators or notaries.
Requesting the simulation
Send it to Retraite Québec via the
Sending a document online service, along with all the required documents.
Retraite Québec sends a Notice of Partition within 30 days after receiving the application.
Requesting the partition of employment earnings
- Complete the
Application for Partition of Employment Earnings Between Former Spouses (Québec Pension Plan).
- Send it to Retraite Québec via the
Sending a document online service, along with all the required documents.
Retirees and pension sharing
If a retiree was receiving his or her retirement pension and filed an application for
Retirement pension sharing between spouses, sharing ends at the end of the month during which Retraite Québec is informed that the de facto spouses have been separated for at least 12 months.