Making Sense of Pensions in Family Law in 2024

Georgina Carson 
Carson Chousky Lein LLP

Anne Slivinskas
Managing Director, Pension Law & Governance, University Pension Plan

We will start the day with a broad strokes overview of the key concepts, including:

• Legislative framework: Interconnection of family law and pension law
• Key concepts in equalization
• Identification of retirement assets: CPP, employment pensions, personal retirement savings (RRSPs, RRIFs, TRSAs, LRIFs)
• Valuation of retirement assets: an overview
• Satisfying an equalization entitlement with pension assets

Kelly McKeating
McKeating Actuarial Services, Inc.

Georgina Carson
Carson Chousky Lein LLP

• Valuations of federally regulated and Ontario plans
• How to decipher a valuation, including due diligence questions
• What you need to know about the valuation of supplementary retirement arrangements (SERPS)
• New assumptions for valuation of multi-employer pension plans (MEPPs)

10:40 a.m.
Health Break

David Wolgelerenter, 
BSc, FSA, FCIA, MBA
DSW Actuarial Services

Get expert guidance on some of the more complex tax considerations, including:
• Recording pension value on financial statements and calculating future tax liability for reduction of net family property
• Navigating tax implications when part of the pension is transferred or paid out in lieu of equalization

Michelle Rival,
Senior Consulting Lawyer, Willis Towers Watson

• How to calculate arrears on post-separation retirement payments. What are the implications in considering options for equalization?
• Interest on percentage transfers vs. no interest on fixed sums and implications in considering options for equalization

12:05 p.m.
Lunch Break

Samantha Chousky,
Carson, Chousky, Lein LLP

Stephanie J. Kalinowski,
Torys LLP

• How to distinguish spousal survivor benefits from death benefits (and why the difference is important)
• Eligibility test for spousal survivor pension
• Navigating issues with spousal waivers

Sukhvinder Dulay,
Counsel, Pension Legal & Plan Policy, OMERS

Sydney Edmonds,
Counsel, Pension Legal & Plan Policy, OMERS

• New caselaw on potential forums for claims disputes and jurisdiction and the implications for your clients.
• When do you have to notify the regulator about litigation? How and when the FSRA policy applies
• Common issues that may require court orders. How to work with plan administrators to ensure they can be administered

Michael Zalev,
Epstein Cole LLP

Pamela Wiktorski,
Manager, Member Experience and Pension Operations, OPTrust

Patricia Johnson,
Manager, Member Experience and Pension Operations, OPTrust

Far too often, poorly drafted pension provisions undermine what the parties thought was a final separation agreement. Get expert guidance (with sample language) on how to draft key clauses that properly reflect and advance your client’s intentions. Learn from plan administrators key strategies for how to successfully transfer lump sums and share pensions in pay.

Includes a 15 minutes floating break

Kathy Batycky,
Counsel, Stoner & Company Family Law Associates

Georgina Carson,
Carson Chousky Lein LLP

Samantha Chousky,
Carson, Chousky, Lein LLP

Anne Slivinskas,
Managing Director, Pension Law & Governance, University Pension Plan

Join our panel of experts as they grapple with some of the more common and complex issues in pension and retirement assets division, including:
• Pensions as payment for spousal and child support
• Entitlement to survivor benefits: Chisholm v. Ontario

4:30 p.m.
Program Concludes