‘It’s just crazy’: woman fights for survivor benefits after presumed death of husband

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This article was published 24/02/2025 (240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brenda Moberg is planning a memorial service for her husband this summer but the Canada Pension Plan won’t pay her survivor benefits until she can prove to them he is dead.

Earl Moberg walked out of his River East home on Dec. 12, 2023. The 81-year-old, who suffered from dementia, hasn’t been seen since. Despite weeks of searching by police and volunteers, he has never been found.

A letter sent to Brenda Moberg from Service Canada earlier this month said her benefits application had been denied because no one knows when her husband may have died.

Lawyers have told Moberg it could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 to put together a case to prove he is dead so she can start receiving the estimated $600 to $700 a month in pension benefits she would already be receiving if his body had been found.

“It’s just crazy,” she said Monday.

“They cut off his CPP benefits, because they told me if they figured out his date of death was different, I would owe them all the money I wouldn’t have qualified for. But, if it takes me years to prove he is dead, they will only pay me 12 months of retroactive benefits.

“Right now everything is in limbo.”

In the Feb. 6 letter, Service Canada said “while we empathize with your situation and its complexities, we are governed by legislation and regulations in the processing of all benefit applications.”

The letter goes on to say her application cannot be approved without proof of death. It says she has 90 days to write asking them to reconsider.

“I’ve done that already,” Moberg said.

Liana Brault, a spokeswoman for Employment and Social Development Canada, said the proof of death requirement is in place to help individuals.

“This requirement helps protect applicants by preventing situations where such individuals are required to repay months, or even years, of survivor’s pension because a missing or lost contributor is later found,” Brault said.

“It also ensures program integrity and protects the contributory plan against the potential of fraudulent or erroneous claims.”

Moberg said she has been told it would be cheaper if she waits seven years after her husband’s disappearance to apply to the courts to have him presumed to be dead.

“But I’m 74 and I’ll be 75 this year — so I would be 80,” she said.

“I don’t want to wait until I’m 80. I still have bills to pay.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca