What happens to your locked-in retirement account (LIRA) upon your death shouldn't be a mystery, as the rules are fairly straightforward. If you die prior to reaching retirement age, the balance in your LIRA would be transferred to your spouse or common-law partner. If you and your spouse or partner were living separately, then that spouse or partner would not be eligible to receive the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:death benefit. If you do not have a spouse or common-law partner, the balance in your LIRA would go to either a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:designated beneficiary or, if there is no beneficiary, then to your estate.

How a LIRA Works

In Canada, you may open a LIRA at any age.

The funds you transfer into a LIRA are from a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:registered pension plan (RPP). LIRAs are designed expressly to hold pension funds for former 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:plan members, former spouses or 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:common-law partneꦓrs, or surviving spouses or partners.

Though the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查ꦏ询:registered retirement savings plan ♏(RRSP) allows you to cash out whenever you decide, a LIRA does not. That is, it's "locked-in." It holds your money for you or someone you designaᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚte until you either retire or die.

In Death, Your LIRA Is No Longer Locked

Death benefits are not locked-in and can be paid out as cash, or the balance may be transferred to the recipient’s own RRSP or registered retirement income fund (RRIF).

In the event that the LIRA balance resulted from the pension benefit of someone other than the owner, then the death benefit does not apply.

The rules goverཧning LIRA death benefits vary minimally across Canada’s provinces.

🎃In general, a LIRA cannot be trꦑansferred from the province it was registered in.

If Your Beneficiary Doesn't Want to Participate

Your spouse, partner, or beneficiary may waive any rights to the death benefit either before or after your death. To do so, the person must first receive all prescribed information from the LIRA 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:plan administrator. They must then sign a waiver and give it to the administrator.

If your spouse, partner, or beneficiary waives the right to the death benefit, the balance of the LIRA will go to your estate instead.

The Bottom Line

When you die, the assets in your locked-in retirement account (LIRA) will go to your spouse/partner, beneficiary, or estate, depending on a few factors. Put another way: death unlocks your LIRA.