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 Payments Start. This form should be submitted to the UBC Pension Administration Office.
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 secondary beneficiary, where upon your death, if the primary beneficiary has pre-deceased you, the secondary beneficiary will receive the death benefit.
If your primary or secondary 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.
Designating Your Beneficiary
After you have been enrolled in the SPP, it is important to designate your beneficiary in Workday at your earliest convenience.
If you have a spouse, you will be required to submit proof of age documents for both your spouse and yourself. You can submit your documents through Workday.
Changing Your Beneficiary Designation
Changes in your life may occur that mean you may need to change your primary and/or secondary beneficiary on file.
For Active Members
You can change your beneficiary in Workday. Your beneficiary must be your spouse unless your spouse elects to waive their entitlement. The following are life changes that may require you to change your beneficiary:
- newly married / common-law spouse
- marriage breakdown, separation or divorce
- welcoming a new child
- death of a loved one
For instructions on how to add or change your beneficiary in Workday, please refer to the Change Beneficiaries article in the Workday Knowledge base.
For Deferred and Retired Members
Deferred members can change their beneficiary by submitting an SPP Beneficiary Designation Form. Retired members can change their beneficiary by submitting a Post-Retirement Beneficiary Designation Form. Please complete and sign your applicable form and submit it to the UBC Pension Administration Office.
Please allow 4-6 weeks processing time. You may then confirm the change by logging into myPension using your UBC Campus Wide Login, and you can review 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 UBC 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 secondary beneficiaries pre-decease you, the proceeds will be paid to your estate.
More information
Please refer to our Designating a Beneficiary information sheet for detailed information on designating a beneficiary for your pension.
For Workday support and resources, visit the Integrated Service Centre.