Alberta judge affirms presumption of equal division of pension at the date of trial, awarding ex-wife half of $500K pension
March 18, 2025
An Alberta judge has refused to depart from the presumptive end date of joint pension accrual (being the date of trial rather than the date of separation) as he awarded a woman an equal share in her former spouse’s $500,000 pension entitlement.
The 66-year-old husband became eligible for an unreduced pension in 2023 after more than two decades of membership in the pension plan but had yet to begin collecting payments.
Although the pair separated in 2017, his former wife asked for a joint accrual end date in July 2024. Meanwhile, the husband argued that he should have the sole benefit of any accrual after separation, since the pension was solely accrued through his efforts during that time.
Noting that the province’s Court of Appeal had previously confirmed that there are no special rules for the date of division of pensions, the judge in the case reiterated that there remains a presumption in favour of equal division at the date of trial, which concluded in May 2024. The issue for the judge was to determine whether an analysis of the factors under s. 8 of Alberta’s Family Property Act led to the justification of departing from the presumptive end date.
After conducting a s. 8 analysis — considering the wife’s limited earning capacity and contributions to the family during the marriage, as well as the husband’s continued earning ability and dissipation of family assets since separation — the judge found that it would be inappropriate to depart from the presumptive end date and directed an equal division of the pension at source, based on a joint accrual period between December 1, 2001 and May 23, 2024, the last day of the trial.
Click more information below to read the judge’s decision:
