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I get this question all the time: "We're separating... what happens to the RESP we set up for our kids?"

It's one of those things that catches people off guard. You've spent years diligently contributing to your child's education savings, watching those government grants add up, and now everything feels uncertain. The good news? There are clear ways to handle this — and your child's education fund can absolutely stay protected.

Let me walk you through how this actually works in Canada.

Who Actually Owns the RESP?

Here's the first thing that surprises people: the RESP doesn't belong to your child.

I know, I know — it feels like it should, right? You opened it for them, it's got their name on it as the beneficiary, and it's earmarked for their future education. But legally speaking, the RESP belongs to whoever opened it — the subscriber.

If you and your ex opened it together as joint subscribers, you both own it. If only one of you is listed as the subscriber, that person has legal control. Your child is the beneficiary — they're the one who'll eventually use the money for school — but they don't own it.

This matters a lot during a divorce.

So... Do We Split It Like Everything Else?

Not exactly. And this is where it gets interesting.

RESPs aren't treated the same way as, say, your RRSP or the family home. They don't get automatically divided down the middle. Instead, they're usually factored into the overall equalization of your family assets.

Here's what that means in practice: Let's say you've got $30,000 sitting in an RESP, and you're the subscriber. That $30,000 will likely be included in your "net family property" when you're dividing everything up. Your ex might get an offset — maybe they keep a bit more of another asset to balance things out — but the RESP itself often stays intact.

Courts and family lawyers generally try to be fair here, especially since everyone knows this money was set aside for the kids. But the mechanics of how it gets divided (or doesn't) can vary depending on your situation.

What Do Most Couples Actually Do?

In my experience, divorcing parents usually handle RESPs in one of three ways:

Option 1: Leave it alone

One parent stays on as the subscriber and keeps managing the account. You put it in writing that the money will only be used for your child's education, and life goes on. This is the simplest option and avoids any tax complications or loss of government grants.

Option 2: Split it into two accounts

Some financial institutions will let you transfer the funds into two separate RESP accounts — one for each parent. Each of you then contributes and manages your own share. It's a clean break, though not all providers make this easy.

Option 3: Trade it for something else

One parent keeps the RESP, but its value gets counted in the overall asset split. So if you keep the $30,000 RESP, your ex might get an extra $30,000 from the sale of the house, or keep more of the investments, or whatever balances things out.

Your Child's Education Is Still Protected

Here's the silver lining in all of this: no matter who ends up managing the RESP, the money still has to be used for your child's education.

If someone tries to withdraw it for other purposes, they'll get hit with taxes and lose all those sweet government grants. So there's a built-in incentive to keep it for what it was meant for — helping your kid pay for college or university.

Put It in Writing

The single best thing you can do? Include a clear RESP clause in your separation agreement.

Spell out:

  • Who's going to own and manage the account
  • Whether either of you will keep contributing (and how much)
  • How decisions about withdrawals will be made
  • What happens if your child decides not to go to post-secondary school

Trust me, dealing with this upfront saves so much headache later. I've seen too many families end up back in mediation years down the road because they didn't nail down these details when they had the chance.

Bottom line? Your child's RESP doesn't have to become another casualty of divorce. With a little planning and a solid agreement, you can make sure those education savings do exactly what they were meant to do — give your kid a great start in life.

If you want to see what a sample RESP clause looks like in a separation agreement, just let me know. I'm happy to share one that covers all the bases.

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