PART I INTERPRETATION
 51.1 (1) This section applies with respect to a variation in the terms of payment of a pension or deferred pension under subsection 49 (2) of the Act (shortened life expectancy).  O. Reg. 144/00, s. 28. (2) The following are prescribed as the circumstances of shortened life expectancy in which a pension plan shall be deemed to permit variation in the terms of payment of a pension or deferred pension: 1.  A former member or retired member has an illness or physical disability that is likely to shorten his or her life expectancy to less than two years.  O. Reg. 144/00, s. 28; O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (2). (3) The following are the prescribed conditions that must be satisfied for the purposes of subsection 49 (2) of the Act: 1.  An application must be made to the administrator of the pension plan for, i.  the withdrawal from the pension fund of the commuted value of the former member’s deferred pension or the retired member’s pension, or ii.  in the case of a retired member receiving variable benefits, the withdrawal from the retired member’s variable benefit account. 2.  The application must be signed by the former member or retired member and must be accompanied by the following documents: i.  A statement signed by a physician who is licensed to practise medicine in a jurisdiction in Canada that, in the physician’s opinion, the former member or retired member has an illness or physical disability that is likely to shorten his or her life expectancy to less than two years. ii.  A declaration described in subsection (4) or (5), as the case may be, about a spouse.  O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (3); O. Reg. 369/19, s. 3 (1). (4) If the application is made before the due date of the first instalment of the former member’s or retired member’s pension, any of the following documents constitutes a declaration about a spouse: 1.  A statement signed by the former member’s or retired member’s spouse, if any, that the spouse consents to the withdrawal from the pension fund. 2.  A statement signed by the former member or retired member attesting to the fact that he or she does not have a spouse. 3.  A statement signed by the former member or retired member attesting to the fact that, on the date that he or she signs the application to make the withdrawal from the pension fund, he or she is living separate and apart from his or her spouse.  O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (3). (4.1) Revoked:  O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (3). (5) If the application is made on or after the due date of the first instalment of the retired member’s pension, any of the following documents constitutes a declaration about a spouse: 1.  A statement signed by the person, if any, who was the retired member’s spouse on the due date of the first instalment of the pension, that the person consents to the withdrawal from the pension fund. 2.  A statement signed by the retired member attesting to the fact that, on the due date of the first instalment of the pension, i.  he or she did not have a spouse, ii.  he or she was living separate and apart from his or her spouse, or iii.  a waiver of the entitlement to receive payment of pension benefits in the form of a joint and survivor pension, delivered under section 46 of the Act by the retired member and his or her spouse, was in effect.  O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (3). (6) A declaration about a spouse is a nullity if it is signed by the former member or retired member, as the case may be, or by the spouse more than 60 days before the administrator receives it.  O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (3). (7) When the administrator receives a document required by this section, the administrator shall give the former member or retired member a receipt for the document stating the day on which it was received.  O. Reg. 178/12, s. 51 (3). (8) Subparagraph 2 ii of subsection (3) and subsections (4), (5) and (6) do not apply in respect of the withdrawal of funds from a retired member’s variable benefit account. O. Reg. 369/19, s. 3 (2).