Submit a separation agreement or court order

Send us a copy of your separation agreement or registered court order so we know how to divide your pension between you and your former spouse.

If your pension is to be divided between you and your former spouse, you must give us clear instructions about how we should divide the pension. This information needs to be clearly stated in a complete, signed separation agreement or registered court order.

You may want to work with a lawyer to prepare the separation agreement or court order. The lawyer may want to refer to Pensions and marital breakdowns: information for lawyers, on this website.

The document you send us should include the following:

The correct name of the pension plan (or plans) providing the benefit to be divided.
The start and end dates (day, month and year) of the entitlement period. The Family Law Act normally considers this period to be from the date you and your former spouse started living together or were married (whichever is earlier), until the date you separated.
Your former spouse's share of the pension, expressed as a percentage amount. Under the Family Law Act, the standard provision is 50 per cent of the pension earned during the entitlement period; however, you and your former spouse may agree on a different percentage. If the percentage is more or less than 50, your separation agreement or court order must state the chosen percentage amount.
Any special requirements for dividing the pension that are different from those under the Family Law Act – for example, if the division will include any service purchased after the entitlement date.

We cannot divide a pension by a dollar amount.

We recommend that you and your former spouse get independent legal advice about your individual rights when dividing a pension.

Forward a copy of your complete, signed separation agreement or registered court order to BC’s Teachers' Pension Plan.

Another way to tell us how to divide your pension

If you do not have a separation agreement or court order that describes how to divide your pension, you can send us a Form P9 Agreement to have benefits divided under part 6 instead.