{"id":406792,"date":"2026-04-23T12:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/406792\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:45:12","slug":"ontario-court-rules-registered-plans-belong-to-designated-beneficiary-not-to-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/406792\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario court rules registered plans belong to designated beneficiary, not to estate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A judge ruled registered accounts were to be treated according to their beneficiary designations, disagreeing with a 2020 decision.PeopleImages\/iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that registered plans are presumed to belong to the designated beneficiary, a ruling experts say is a welcome counterweight to recent decisions that found registered plans belong to the estate.<\/p>\n

The decision in Kunka Estate v. Giasson<\/a>, delivered on March 26, involves the estate of a man who died in 2023, two years after the death of his common-law partner of more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

In his will, the man named his stepdaughter and stepson \u2013 his late partner\u2019s children \u2013 as beneficiaries of the estate and his stepdaughter as executor.<\/p>\n

However, in the months before his death, he changed the beneficiaries on both his registered retirement income fund (RRIF) and his tax-free savings account (TFSA) to a woman with whom he had recently become close, replacing the stepchildren. That change ultimately led to the estate dispute.<\/p>\n

In this case, the judge ruled the registered accounts were to be treated according to their beneficiary designations, disagreeing with a 2020 decision from the same court.<\/p>\n

Previous rulings<\/p>\n

The stepdaughter, in her capacity as executor, applied to the court about the RRIF and the TFSA. She argued her stepfather\u2019s friend wasn\u2019t the beneficial owner of the accounts but was instead holding the property in trust for the benefit of the estate. <\/p>\n

In making her argument, she relied on Pecore v. Pecore<\/a>, a 2007 Supreme Court of Canada decision involving an estate dispute over a bank account jointly owned by a woman and her late father. <\/p>\n

In that decision, the court found that a transfer of property for no consideration to an adult child is presumed to be held in trust for the estate unless the child can prove the parent intended them to have the property. <\/p>\n

The applicant also relied on Calmusky v. Calmusky<\/a>, a 2020 Ontario Superior Court decision that applied the \u201cpresumption of resulting trust\u201d principle in Pecore to a beneficiary designation on a RRIF. Courts in other provinces have also applied the Pecore principle to beneficiary designations. <\/p>\n

The judge in Kunka Estate disagreed with the Calmusky decision, saying Pecore was different based on the facts. As beneficiary designations for registered plans are transfers made on death \u2013 not during someone\u2019s lifetime, as with naming someone a joint bank account holder \u2013 the judge found the presumption of resulting trust doesn\u2019t apply. <\/p>\n

The judge also noted that beneficiaries have no access to assets in a registered plan until the holder\u2019s death, while a joint bank account holder can access funds at any time. <\/p>\n

Finally, Ontario estate law specifically allows a registered plan holder to designate a beneficiary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislation clearly signals that registered accounts are meant to be treated according to their beneficiary designations and not as part of a resulting trust for the benefit of the estate,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

Given this finding, the judge said the burden fell on the applicant to prove the deceased intended the RRIF and TFSA to go to the estate, and the stepdaughter had not met that burden.<\/p>\n

The judge also rejected, for a lack of evidence, the applicant\u2019s claim that her stepfather\u2019s friend had exerted \u201cundue influence\u201d over his decision to change the RRIF and TFSA beneficiary designations.<\/p>\n

\u2018The whole point of a beneficiary designation\u2019<\/p>\n

Laroux Peoples, an estate lawyer and vice-president of professional services at managing general agency PPI Management Inc. in Toronto, said the decision in Kunka Estate aligns with most people\u2019s understanding of how beneficiary designations work. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t designate a beneficiary on an asset unless your intent was that they get it when you die,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the whole point of a beneficiary designation.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Natale, head of tax, retirement and estate planning services, wealth, at Manulife Investment Management in Toronto, said the ruling adds to existing case law that supports beneficiary designations. <\/p>\n

However, the question of whether a registered plan is presumed to belong to the beneficiary or the estate won\u2019t be settled, despite the new ruling, until a higher court addresses it or legislative changes are introduced, Mr. Natale says.<\/p>\n

Following Kunka Estate, \u201cyou can feel more secure [about beneficiary designations], but it\u2019s not guaranteed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It still makes sense for clients to document their intentions when designating a beneficiary in case of an estate challenge, Mr. Natale says. For example, a client can prepare a letter expressly stating they intend the account to pass to the beneficiary outside of the estate. Advisors should also document a client\u2019s intentions as part of broader tax and estate planning discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the evidence is strong one way or the other, that will overcome whatever presumption might apply,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Ms. Peoples says that while Kunka Estate addressed beneficiary designations on registered plans, it strengthens the argument that the Pecore principle also doesn\u2019t apply to beneficiary designations on insurance policies. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt sets a precedent for the argument that if an asset is regulated by provincial legislation, it might be outside the scope of \u2018presumption of resulting trust,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A judge ruled registered accounts were to be treated according to their beneficiary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[697,114,268,8150,85,46,14093,266,267],"class_list":{"0":"post-406792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-appwebview","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-globe-advisor","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-noastack","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}