“Bill 133: How Will I Cope?” concentrates on the practical issues and pitfalls involved in navigating the new pension division regime in Ontario. It begins with a brief overview of Bill 133 and pension types. It then follows through the step-by-step process of how one requests the Family Law Value, how one reads the Form 4s on which it and other pension values are reported, recommends standard post-retirement income tax rates to be used, and goes over how a pension is divided, whether it is in pay or whether it is not in pay. It gives considerable attention to the issue of projected post-retirement income taxes.

The pitfalls portion outlines risks that all Ontario family law lawyers need to be cognizant of.

The seminar also looks at the advantages and disadvantages to the plan holder and the spouse of transferring funds out of the pension plan versus equalizing using non-pension assets or of leaving them in the plan to the credit of the spouse. It also covers how the spouse gains access to the locked-in pension funds.     

Outline

1. Where Does Bill 133 Apply? What are its Basics?
2. How do I apply for the Family Law Value (“FLV”) from a provincially registered plan?
3. What do I do with the report from a provincially registered plan when I get it?
4. How do I divide the pension?
5. Pitfalls! BEWARE!!
6. Should the plan member transfer from the plan?
7. Should the spouse choose a transfer or a pension from the plan, if available?

The seminar is 3 hours long although questions and discussions can stretch this limit. It is given in lawyers’ offices. It is eligible for 3 hours of substantive professional development credit. There is no fee for the seminar itself although we charge $50 inclusive of taxes per binder distributed. The binders contain all of the Bill 133 forms, the presentation’s powerpoint slides, and more detailed explanations of how to divide pensions. Not every attendee may require a binder. Please contact us by e-mail or call 416.629.1031 or 1.866.858.8805 to arrange for a presentation at your offices.