Retirement Plan Beneficiaries Act
Consolidated act- Citation
- R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c.R-6
- Source
- Unofficial consolidation PDF (justice.gov.nt.ca)
This is an unofficial reading copy parsed from the Department of Justice consolidation PDF above — itself an office consolidation, not an official statement of the law. The authoritative text is in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988 and the annual Statutes volumes.
- s.1 amended by S.N.W.T. 1995,c.26,s.2
- s.1 amended by Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act in force Sept. 1, 2019 (SI-009-2019)
- s.3 amended by S.N.W.T. 1995,c.26,s.3
- s.11 amended by Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act in force Sept. 1, 2019 (SI-009-2019)
- s.11.1 amended by Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act in force Sept. 1, 2019 (SI-009-2019)
- Regulations
- Tax-Free Savings Account Regulations, s.1 (under the Retirement Plan Beneficiaries Act) → s.1
Definitions
1.In this Act,
"annuity" includes an amount payable on a periodic basis, whether payable at intervals longer or shorter than a year; (rente)
"designation" means a designation made by a participant under paragraph 3(1)(a); (désignation)
"participant" means a person who is entitled to designate another person to receive a benefit payable under a plan on the death of the first person; (participant)
"plan" means
(a) a pension, retirement, welfare or profit- sharing fund, trust, scheme, contract or arrangement for the benefit of employees, former employees, agents or former agents of an employer or their dependants or beneficiaries, whether established by or under a statute or otherwise,
(b) a fund, trust, scheme, contract or arrangement for the payment of an annuity for life or for a fixed or variable term,
(c) a retirement savings plan or retirement income fund as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), or
(d) a fund, trust, scheme, contract or arrangement prescribed as such by the Commissioner in Executive Council; (régime)
"will" means a will as defined in the Wills Act. (testament) S.N.W.T. 1995,c.26,s.2; S.N.W.T. 2019,c.21,s.10(2).
Application
2.This Act does not apply to a contract of insurance or to a designation or revocation of a designation to which the Insurance Act applies.
Designation
3.(1) A participant may
(a) designate a person to receive a benefit payable under a plan on the death of the participant
(i) by an instrument signed by the participant or signed on behalf of the participant by another person in the presence and by the direction of the participant, or
(ii) by will; and
(b) revoke the designation by either method referred to in paragraph (a).
(2) A designation under subsection (1) in respect of a plan referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition "plan" in section 1 has effect whether it is made, or the participant who made it died, before or after that paragraph came into force.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if its application would
(a) alter the result in any proceeding in which a judgment or final order was granted before subsection (2) came into force, regardless of whether the judgment or order is appealable; or
(b) impose on a person the obligation to repay or account for proceeds of a plan referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition "plan" in section 1 received or paid out by that person before that paragraph came into force.
S.N.W.T. 1995,c.26,s.3.
Designation in will
4.A designation in a will is effective only if it refers to the plan generally or specifically.
Revocation in will
5.A revocation in a will of a designation made by an instrument is not effective to revoke the designation unless the revocation refers to the plan or the designation generally or specifically.
Wills Act
6.Notwithstanding the Wills Act,
(a) a later designation revokes an earlier designation to the extent of any inconsistency; and
(b) a designation or revocation in a will is effective from the time when the will is signed.
Revocation of will
7.A revocation of a will revokes a designation in the will.
Invalid will
8.A designation or revocation contained in an instrument that purports to be a will is not invalid by reason only that the instrument is invalid as a will.
Effect of certain events
9.A designation in an instrument that purports to be a valid will, but is not, is revoked by an event that would have the effect of revoking the instrument if it had been a valid will.
Earlier designation
10.A revocation of a designation does not revive an earlier designation.
Enforcement of payment
11.After the death of a participant who has made a designation that is in effect at the time of the death, the person designated may enforce payment of the benefit payable to him or her under the plan, but the administrator of the plan may set up any defence that the administrator could have set up against the participant or the personal representative of the participant. S.N.W.T. 2019,c.21,s.10(3).
Discharge of administrator
11.1.The administrator of a plan is discharged on paying the benefit to the person designated in the latest designation made in accordance with the terms of the plan, in the absence of actual notice of a later designation or revocation made under section 3 but not in accordance with the terms of the plan. S.N.W.T. 2019,c.21,s.10(3).
Where Act inconsistent with plan
12.Where this Act is inconsistent with a plan, this Act applies to the extent of any inconsistency unless
(a) the inconsistency relates to a designation made or proposed to be made after the making of a benefit payment, and
(b) the benefit payment referred to in paragraph (a) would have been different if the designation had been made before the benefit payment was made,
in which case the plan applies.