Court Holds that Buyback Contributions Do Not Convert Pre-Marriage Pensionable Service into Divisible Family Property
August 04, 2026
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has found that pension benefits bought back during the marriage relating to the period of service before the marriage began were not subject to division.
In L.G. v. K.G., the parties agreed that pension benefits earned during the relationship were family property and subject to division on marriage breakdown. The parties disagreed on whether the husband’s Canadian Armed Forces (“CAF”) pension should include service accrued before the relationship (1978–1991), which had later been repurchased through buyback contributions made during the marriage.
The husband began employment with the CAF in 1978 and, after the parties were married, was laid off in 1995. At that time, he received a pension payout of approximately $14,500, which he testified was used for family purposes. He rejoined the CAF in 1998 and elected to repurchase his prior service through payroll deductions. The buyback payments started during the marriage, but continued after separation and were required until 2035. The wife argued that the buyback contributions made during the marriage effectively transformed the pre-relationship service into family property that should be subject to division under the Pension Benefits Division Act.
The Court rejected the wife's argument, finding that the husband's entitlement to the pre-marriage service had not yet been fully established during the marriage because the buyback payments continued long after separation and would not be completed until 2035. The husband’s entitlement only crystalizes upon the completion of those payments. The Court also emphasized that the pension entitlement depended not only on the buyback contributions, but also on the husband’s pre-marriage period of service with the CAF from 1978 to 1991.
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