Definitions of Terms

Pre-retirement Death – Eligible Spouse or Partner

OMERS considers the surviving legal or common-law spouse of a deceased member to be the eligible spouse if:

  • the member and the spouse were not living separate and apart at the date of the member's death; and
  • the spouse did not waive rights to survivor benefits from the plan.

Post-retirement Death – Eligible Spouse or Partner

Determining the eligible surviving spouse of a deceased retired member can be more complex. The following outlines the order of entitlement for members whose pension started on or after January 1, 1988. (For retirements before this date, please contact OMERS Client Services for more information.)

Retirement-date Spouse or Partner

If the member was married before retirement, OMERS considers the surviving legal or common-law spouse at the date of retirement (i.e., the retirement-date spouse) to be the eligible spouse if:

  • he or she was not living separate and apart from the member on the date of retirement; and
  • he or she has not waived rights to survivor benefits from the plan.

If after the member retires there is a separation or divorce, the retirement-date spouse would still qualify as the eligible spouse, if he or she was not living separate and apart from the member on the date of retirement, and he or she has not waived rights to survivor benefits from the plan.

Note: If the retirement-date spouse and the member were living separate and apart at the date of retirement, the retirement-date spouse may still qualify as an eligible spouse if he or she and the member were not divorced at the date of death, and there is no eligible common-law spouse at the date of death.

“Living separate and apart” has a specific legal meaning. For more information, please contact OMERS Client Services. 

Post-retirement-date Spouse

If the member married (or remarried) after retirement, OMERS considers the surviving legal or common-law spouse at the date of death (i.e., post-retirement-date spouse) to be the eligible spouse if:

  • there was no eligible retirement-date spouse; and
  • the post-retirement-date spouse and the member were not legally divorced at the date of death; and
  • the post-retirement-date spouse has not waived rights to survivor benefits from the plan.

Special Notes

A legal spouse is legally married to the member. OMERS will accept a legible photocopy of one of these documents as proof of a legal marriage:

  • a marriage certificate;
  • a statutory declaration (or a signed letter from the place of worship where the marriage took place);
  • a sworn affidavit; or
  • a notarized copy of an extract from a family Bible (if it indicates the date of marriage).

Common-law Spouse and Proof of Common-law Relationship

OMERS considers a common-law marriage to be one where the couple has lived together in a conjugal relationship continuously:

  • for a period of not less than three years; or
  • for a shorter period if the relationship is of some permanence and there are natural or legally adopted children of the common-law marriage.

OMERS considers a same-sex spouse to be eligible if the common-law or legal spouse criteria are met and the member died on or after April 23, 1998.

The surviving common-law spouse must make a statutory declaration or swear an affidavit before a Commissioner of Oaths (e.g., a lawyer, MPP, municipal or court official with authority to take affidavits).

The declaration has to address issues such as:

  • Were you living together like a married couple, i.e., had a physical relationship, ate meals together, socialized as a couple, shared expenses, financially supported each other, etc.? Was the relationship to the exclusion of others? Was there any discussion of the possibility of future marriage?
  • When did you begin to live together? Did this relationship continue until the member's date of death? Were there any breaks when you were not living together?

Other Documents

Additional documents are required for proof of a common-law marriage and include:

  • any pertinent birth certificates or formal adoption papers for children of the relationship;
  • proof of joint charge and bank accounts, tax returns, home ownership, or jointly held property.

Eligible Dependent Child

 OMERS considers an eligible dependent child to be a natural or legally adopted child or a child in legal custody (other than foster-care arrangements) of a deceased member who, at the time of the member's death, was both dependent on the member for support, and was:

  • 18 years or younger in the year of the member's death; or
  • under age 25* and a full-time student; or
  • totally disabled, as described below.

* If the member died before January 1, 2005, the eligibility period ends at age 21.

Totally Disabled Child

OMERS considers a totally disabled child to be someone whose physical or mental disability:

  • occurred before age 21; or
  • occurred before age 25* while a full-time student; and
  • whose condition prevents self-support or doing any work for compensation or profit (except with an OMERS-approved rehabilitation or workshop program); and
  • did not become disabled from a willfully self-inflicted injury, committing (or attempting to commit) an offence under the Criminal Code, or working in an unlawful occupation.

An eligible child will receive a pension:

* If the member died before January 1, 2005, the eligibility period ends at age 21.

Commuted Value

  • The commuted value of a pension is the present-day value of the future pension. It is the amount of money that must be put aside today to grow with investment earnings to provide a specific pension amount at a future date.
  • OMERS determines the commuted value of a pension using guidelines established by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and sanctioned under the Pension Benefits Act of Ontario.

Deferred Pension

  • A deferred pension is the pension earned by an OMERS member up to the day they left their employer.
  • A member who chooses to defer their pension is entitled to a normal or early retirement pension at the applicable retirement age. The pension does not begin automatically; the member must apply for it.

50% Rule Refund

If the member's contributions plus interest from Jan. 1, 1987 to the date of death are greater than 50% of the commuted value of their pension earned from Jan. 1, 1987, OMERS will refund the excess to the member's beneficiary or estate.

  • The 50% Rule refund does not apply to retired members or those with a deferred OMERS pension, as this calculation would have been done when they left their job or retired.