Pensions and New Evaluation Rules 2012

I'm going to talk to you about Family Law today. Pensions and their Value on Marriage Breakdown. On Marriage Breakdown Pensions and their value are part of a married couples property and are taken into calculation when matrimonial property is divided on marriage breakdown.

The Province of Ontario has a new law, on Pensions in Ontario coming into effect on January 1st 2012, which will clarify how the value of a pension is calculated. This new Act clarifies the previously muddied and unclear area of the law in respect of pensions, and their settlement in the event of marriage breakdown.

The Act is called the Division of Pensions Benefits in Ontario Act.

The new law applies only to pensions in Ontario and not to Federal Pensions such as the Federal Civil Service, Air Canada, Bell Telephone, Canada Pension etc. Here is how the New Ontario Act sets out pension evaluation and division.

Firstly, The Pension administrator must Value the pension. Then, there are two different methods of payment, First for a pension member who has not yet begun to receive pensions settlement, the division must be made in an immediate lump sum, transfer from the pension plan of up to 50% of its value. The Second Type of Calculation is for a Pension Member who is already receiving the pensions settlement payments. This is handled by dividing the pension payments between the member and the former spouse.

The payment division in the first senario is when the pension member has not begun to receive the pension. And as I have indicated the division is up to 50% of the value as it has been calculated. This money can be paid to the non member in a lump sum payment or transferred into an RRSP or Registered Retirement Income Fund ( RRIF) of the non member.

I caution you that may be more than one pension to be taken into consideration.

I can help you obtain your just rights in regards to pensions and their values on marriage breakdown. This is a difficult area of law which I do understand, Call me for my assistance. Call Me, Stan Gelman 905 270 5110 http://Wiselawyer.ca

New Home Purchase Includes HST

The Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and how it affects homebuyers

I just wanted to follow up with you today to provide this link to our new "Buying a home? Get the facts on HST" bilingual real estate fact sheet.

To make it easier for you to provide information on the HST and how it affects homebuyers, we created this document for you to simply print off and hand out to your clients and other interested parties.

Did you know?

About 93 per cent of all homes sold in Ontario are not subject to an additional tax amount under the HST.

It’s important to note, the HST is not charged on resale homes.

In addition it is not charged on:

home insurance
mortgage interest costs

HST is charged on:

real estate commissions
legal fees

For the entire list of what's taxable under the HST and what's not, please visit http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/taxchange/pdf/taxable.pdf. This list is also available for download, as a free mobile application.

And of course, you can visit our website for more information on the HST at www.ontario.ca/taxchange (en) or www.ontario.ca/modificationfiscale (fr).


Rachael, Ontario Ministry of Revenue

Contact Stan Gelman at 905 270 5110 or email sgelman.sglaw@rogers.com

http://wiselawyer.ca

Do you have a Question?

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If you have a question about a legal matter, whether it is Insurance Related to the New Ontario Coverage Limitations, Labour Laws and Wrongful Dismissal or a Slip and Fall. Possibly you have questions regarding a developers charges in an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for a house or condominium purchase. Family Law issues are the most emotionally charged as they most often deal with Access and Visitation as well as support.

Are you considering buying a previous grow house and the issues you need to be aware of with ESA and Occupancy Permits?

You can post your questions here in the comments section and they will be answered for you as Blog Posts or can be handled by DM.

I look forward to your inquiries.