Bartley v. Brown: How to Obtain a Pension Valuation when the Pension Holder won't Cooperate

What do you do if other party won’t cooperate with disclosure obligations and you need to prove his/her pension?

The case of Bartley v. Brown, 2022 ONSC 6264 gives us an explanation of the “how to”, when the pension holder refuses to cooperate in obtaining the pension valuation.

In this case, the Husband pension holder did not file an Answer or provide any financial disclosure.  Regarding the valuation of the pension, the dilemma the Wife had was that although the husband’s signature was not required for the application (which, here, was FSCO form 1), it was required for the Joint Declaration of Period of Spousal Relationship (at that time, FSCO form 2). The Wife was unable to obtain the family law value of the Husband’s pension without his signature or a Court Order dispensing with same.

On a motion, the Wife sought an Order to have the Husband be noted in default, obtain leave to bring an uncontested trial, and for an Order that the Husband’s consent and/or signature be dispensed with to obtain a family law value of his TTC pension. The Husband did not appear or file his Answer, so he was noted in default and the court granted orders allowing for an uncontested trial and dispensing with the Husband’s signature.