Pensions to Surviving Spouses or Children
15.2 (1) A pension payable to a person under section 15 or 15.1 is payable monthly beginning the first day of the month following the month in which the person becomes entitled to the pension and is payable, (a) to a surviving spouse until his or her death; or (b) to a dependent child until the earlier of the child’s death and the end of the child’s dependent child benefit period. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 75/00, s. 5 (1); O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (1). (2) A child of a deceased member shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be under the age of 19 years during the continuation of total disability if the child is determined by the president, on the advice of a physician appointed by the Board, to be totally disabled, (a) before the age of 21 years; or (b) before the age of 25 years if the child is in full-time attendance at an educational institution and the member dies on or after January 1, 2005. O. Reg. 402/04, s. 4. (3) In subsection (2), “totally disabled” means that the child is afflicted by mental or physical infirmity that has rendered the child incapable of supporting himself or herself and “total disability” has a corresponding meaning, but total disability shall be considered not to exist, (a) during any period in which the child engages in any occupation for compensation or profit other than an occupation associated with a rehabilitation or workshop program approved by the president, or (b) where the disability results from wilfully self-inflicted injury or the commission or attempted commission by the child of an indictable offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) or the engagement by the child in an unlawful occupation. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 783/92, s. 2. (4) Despite clause 15 (2) (a) or 15.1 (2) (a), if at the time of the member’s death the surviving spouse of the member does not have custody, care and control of any surviving child of the deceased member, the increase in pension payable to the surviving spouse in respect of children of the member as provided in clause 15 (2) (a) or 15.1 (2) (a) shall be paid to the person or agency who most recently had custody, care and control. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 75/00, s. 5 (2); O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (2). (5) For the purposes of sections 15 and 15.1, if a pension or other benefit is payable to a child of a deceased member under the age of eighteen years or a disabled child referred to in subsection (2), payment may be made to the person or agency having custody, care and control of the child, or, if there is no such person or agency, to the person or agency named by the president. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 783/92, s. 2. (6) The surviving parent of a child shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be deemed to be the person having custody, care and control, except where the child is living apart from the parent. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14. (7) If a surviving spouse, child or beneficiary of a deceased member cannot be found, and the president is satisfied that reasonable efforts have been made to find them and at least one year has passed since the member’s death, the Board may, despite any other provision of this Regulation, direct that any benefit that would be payable under this Regulation if the surviving spouse, child or beneficiary had predeceased the member be paid to the person who would be entitled to receive the benefit in those circumstances, on such conditions as the Board directs. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 783/92, s. 2; O. Reg. 75/00, s. 5 (3); O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (3). (8) If a surviving spouse, child or beneficiary referred to in subsection (7) is subsequently found and a claim is made for any benefit payable under this Regulation, the Board may direct that the benefit, reduced by the amount actually paid under subsection (7), be paid to the surviving spouse, child or beneficiary, as the case may be. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 75/00, s. 5 (3); O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (4). (9) The president may direct that a benefit be paid in accordance with this Regulation as if the surviving spouse or the member’s beneficiary, as the case may be, had predeceased the member if a benefit would otherwise have been payable under section 15 or 15.1 to the surviving spouse of a deceased member but the president is satisfied, (a) that the person is not entitled to receive the benefit by virtue of a judicial decree or a separation agreement or other contractual arrangement between the person and the member that has been received by the president before any payment of the benefit is made to the person; or (b) that the person, or, where applicable, the member’s beneficiary, has refused to accept the benefit. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 783/92, s. 2; O. Reg. 75/00, s. 5 (4); O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (5). (10) If the benefit referred to in subsection (9) is a pension and the president is satisfied that the person is not entitled to receive the pension by virtue of a judicial decree, separation agreement or other contractual arrangement that is received by the president after payment of the pension is commenced, the president may direct that, thereafter, the pension or any other benefit be paid in accordance with this Regulation as if the person had died on the date the judicial decree, separation agreement or other contractual arrangement was received. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 783/92, s. 2. (11) Upon the application of a surviving spouse whose pension under section 15 or 15.1 ceased by reason of his or her remarriage before the 29th day of September, 1981, the Board shall recommence the pension as of the 1st day of July, 1984. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (6). (12) The pension referred to in subsection (11) shall be recommenced in a monthly amount equal to the amount that would have been paid to the surviving spouse on the 1st day of July, 1984 as if the pension had not been terminated. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (7). (13) If a pension became payable under section 15 or 15.1 to the child of a former member upon the remarriage of the surviving spouse of the former member before the 29th day of September, 1981, the child shall, if otherwise entitled to receive the pension, continue to be so entitled despite the recommencement of the pension to the surviving spouse under subsection (12). O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 340/05, s. 5 (8). (14) Any person receiving or entitled to receive a pension under section 15 or 15.1 on January 1, 1998 shall have his or her pension recalculated as if this Regulation, as it read on January 1, 1998, had been in effect on the date of death of the former member whose pension or pension entitlement was the basis of calculation of the pension or pension entitlement of the person, but the recalculated pension shall be payable only from and after January 1, 1998. O. Reg. 775/91, s. 14; O. Reg. 422/97, s. 5. (14.1) A person receiving or entitled to receive a pension under section 15 or 15.1 on January 1, 1999 shall have his or her pension recalculated as if this Regulation as it reads on June 1, 1999 had been in effect on the date of the applicable former member’s death. The recalculated pension is payable only from and after January 1, 1999. O. Reg. 317/99, s. 6. Deferred Pensions