Spouse or common-law partner as successor annuitant of the RRSP property

If the spouse or common-law partner of a deceased annuitant is entitled to receive amounts under a matured RRSP, they become the annuitant of the RRSP. The RRSP continues and you make the annuity payments to the spouse or common-law partner as the successor annuitant.

Spouse or common-law partner as beneficiary of the estate, and the following conditions apply:

• you are making a direct transfer of the entire refund of premiums under paragraph 60 (l) to the spouse or common-law partner’s RRSP or RRIF, or to an issuer to buy an eligible annuity for the spouse or common-law partner
• all the RRSP property is distributed before the end of the exempt period

In this case, issue a T4RSP slip in the name of the spouse or common-law partner for the year you complete the transfer. Enter the amount of the payout as a refund of premiums in box 18. This amount can include income earned in the RRSP after the date of death to the date of the transfer, since the amount is paid before the end of the exempt period. Do not issue any slip in the name of the deceased.

However, if Situation 1 on this page does not apply, report the FMV of the RRSP at the time of death in box 34 of a T4RSP slip issued in the name of the deceased annuitant for the year of death. Circumstances will sometimes arise where that FMV will be greater than the totals of all the payments made from the RRSP after the annuitant’s death. If this occurs, you have to fill out Form RC249, Post-Death Decline in the Value of a RRIF, an Unmatured RRSP and Post-Death Increase or Decline in the Value of a PRPP.

When there is no successor annuitant, the deceased annuitant’s estate becomes entitled to receive the RRSP property. If the deceased’s will states that the spouse or common-law partner is entitled to the amounts paid under the RRSP, or that the spouse or common-law partner is the sole beneficiary of the estate, the spouse or common-law partner can elect in writing, jointly with the legal representative, to be the successor annuitant under the plan.

If this election is made, we consider the spouse or common-law partner to have received the annuity payments, and they will have to include these payments in income for the year the legal representative received them. To make this election, the legal representative and the spouse or common-law partner need only to write a letter explaining their intention. A copy of the letter must be provided to the payer of the annuity and another copy attached to the spouse’s or common-law partner’s income tax and benefit return. If you know that the election was filed with us, you should:

• issue the T4RSP slip to the surviving spouse or common-law partner, even if you make the payments to the deceased annuitant's legal representative
• report the annuity payments in box 16, not box 34

Other situations

In any other situation, including when you make payments to a child or grandchild beneficiary, you have to issue a T4RSP slip in the name of the deceased annuitant for the year of death. In box 34, enter the fair market value (FMV) of all the property held by the plan at the time of the annuitant's death.

Amounts you paid from the plan may be more than the amount receivable by the spouse or common-law partner and the amount reported in box 34 of the T4RSP slip you issued to the deceased annuitant. In this case, all or part of the excess amount is a benefit from the RRSP. Issue a T4RSP slip in the name of the beneficiary for the year of payment and enter the benefit in box 28.