If you have a spouse, you must name your spouse as your primary beneficiary under British Columbia Pension Legislation. (Please refer to Marriage, Common Law, Separation, & Divorce for the definition of spouse.) Should your spouse wish to waive their right to the death benefits, they must complete a Form 4 – Spouse’s Waiver of Beneficiary Right to Benefits in a Pension Plan, Locked-In Retirement Account, Life Income Fund or Annuity Before Pension or Annuity Payments Start. This form should be submitted to Sun Life in combination with a Sun Life Change of Records Form. View detailed instructions on how to complete Form 4.
If you do not have a spouse, a beneficiary may be an individual(s), an institution(s), a trustee, or your estate. You may also name a contingent beneficiary, where upon your death, if the primary beneficiary has pre-deceased you, the contingent beneficiary will receive the death benefit.
If your primary or contingent beneficiary designation includes more than one individual or institution, you are required to allocate the percentage of entitlement for each beneficiary.
If you do not designate a beneficiary, the default beneficiary will be your estate.
Changing Your Beneficiary Designation
Complete a Sun Life Change of Records Form to update your primary and/or contingent beneficiary information and submit the form to Sun Life.
By completing a Change of Records Form, all previous beneficiary designations will be revoked. Therefore, all sections relating to beneficiary designations must be completed.
To confirm the change, your beneficiary information is available by signing into mysunlife.ca/ubcfpp, then under Investments, select Manage plan > my plan > Make a change > Manage beneficiaries. Your quarterly statement of account also confirms your beneficiary information.
In the Event of Death
In the event that one of your beneficiaries dies, you should review and update your beneficiary information, if required. If your primary beneficiary dies, contact the Pension Administration Office. Depending on the life cycle of your pension benefit you may or may not need to update your beneficiary designation.
In the event of your death, if your primary and contingent beneficiaries pre-decease you, the proceeds will be paid to your estate.