Survivors' Benefits Payable Under the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act
Part 1 of the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act (CFSA) provides that upon the death of an annuitant, the conjugal survivor is normally entitled to receive an annual allowance equal to one-half of the annuitant's original pension plus cost-of-living increases, provided the marriage occurred prior to the annuitant's 60th birthday. This annual allowance is payable for life and is subject to the cost-of-living adjustments.
Children of the marriage (born prior to the annuitant's 60th birthday) are normally entitled to a child's annual allowance equal to one-fifth of the survivor's annual allowance per child (to a maximum of four-fifths per family). This allowance is payable until the child attains 18 years of age and may be extended to a maximum of age 25 where the child remains in uninterrupted full-time attendance in school. This benefit may be doubled where the child is orphaned (where there is no conjugal survivor).
Where a Divorce Decree has been issued, the divorced spouse would have no entitlement to a CFSA annual allowance. In the event of a marital separation between conjugal partners at the time of the annuitant's death, approval from the Minister of National Defence would be required before any benefits could be paid to the separated partner. It would be necessary for the applying partner to complete a Statutory Declaration confirming that the marriage had at no time been terminated by divorce.
In the event of the annuitant remarrying, the second partner would be considered the survivor for purposes of paying the annual allowance. However, it should be noted that, regardless of whether or not it is the annuitant's first marriage, no benefits are payable if the marriage occurred after the annuitant's 60th birthday, unless the annuitant elected, within one year of marriage, to accept a reduction to his benefit in order to provide a survivors' benefit for his partner.
In the case of a conjugal relationship, the Minister of National Defence would review the case and deem the person the survivor if the Minister was satisfied that they had lived in a relationship of a conjugal nature for at least one year prior to the annuitant's death, provided that the relationship commenced prior to the member's 60 birthday. As the Minister's decision is based on the circumstances in effect at the time of the member's death, it is never possible to confirm in advance whether a partner in a conjugal relationship would be entitled to CFSA survivors' benefits. It is not possible to "elect" a survivor's benefit after age 60 (as set out in the preceding paragraph) in a conjugal relationship situation.
