The new Family Law Act (“FLA”) came into force today, March 18, 2013. It replaces and repeals the Family Relations Act (“FRA”). The FLA carries forward the basic structure established under the FRA, with some fine tuning to deal with issues not adequately addressed under the FRA.

This bulletin highlights the major changes to pension division under the new FLA.

Application to Common Law Spouses:

• Unlike the FRA, the pension division rules in Part 6 of the FLA apply to unmarried spouses who have lived in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, in addition to married spouses.

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