FAQ: Can I Prompt RRIF Withdrawals to be Done Equally Between Spouses?

The platform is not pulling from the Registered accounts in a proportional manner because it’s trying to split income as much as possible, this may result in larger Registered withdrawals for one partner versus a strict proportional withdrawal would otherwise do, especially if you are before 65 when splitting RRIF income is not possible.

You can manually override your withdrawals to a lower amount to reflect your lower proportion of assets. If you do, only do this until age 64. This will force the platform to withdraw more from your partners Registered accounts. Depending on how close your partner is to the next tax bracket this may push them into higher tax levels.

After age 65, and after the Registered accounts have been converted to RRIFs/LIFs this is no longer an issue, so only override the account until 64. Also only override the smaller account, leave the larger account free to make automatic withdrawals.