An RESP’s government grant money must be repaid if the account is collapsed before the child uses it for school, so separating parents usually keep the RESP open instead of cashing it out. Separation does not automatically change who controls the account; your agreement should name the subscriber and set contribution and withdrawal terms, with the RESP provider involved directly.
- Collapsing an RESP to split the cash in a separation usually triggers repayment of the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) — the government claws the grant back rather than letting you split it.
- Keeping the RESP open and intact for the child’s actual education is generally how separating parents preserve the grant money instead of losing it.
- Separation does not automatically change who is the legal subscriber of a joint RESP — your separation agreement or a court order needs to say so explicitly.
- Whether you can open a new joint RESP together after separating varies by provider — confirm directly with the financial institution rather than assuming either way.
- Splitting one RESP into two individual-plan accounts for the same child may be possible depending on the plan type, but confirm with the RESP provider and a financial advisor before relying on it.
- A clear separation agreement should name who stays on as subscriber, who keeps contributing, and who decides on withdrawals.
- Involve both your family lawyer and the RESP provider — RESP contract terms are provider-specific, and this is as much a financial-institution question as a legal one.
What an RESP Is (and Why the Grant Matters)
A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a savings vehicle built specifically to fund a child's post-secondary education. What makes it different from an ordinary joint savings account is that the federal government adds money on top of what the parents contribute — most notably through the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), which tops up contributions up to certain annual and lifetime limits. That grant money is the whole reason RESPs need careful handling during a separation: it is not simply cash sitting in an account waiting to be split like any other joint asset discussed in our overview of property division in an Ontario divorce.
If an RESP is collapsed — closed out and withdrawn — before the child actually uses it for post-secondary education, the grant portion generally has to be repaid to the government. That single rule drives almost every decision separating parents need to make about an RESP.
Why Collapsing the RESP to Split Cash Backfires
It is a common instinct in a separation: there is a joint account with the child's name attached to it, so why not cash it out and split it fifty-fifty like everything else? The problem is that an RESP is not a pure savings account — a meaningful portion of what is inside it is government grant money the family did not actually contribute, and that money comes with strings attached. Collapse the plan before the child uses it for school, and the grant generally gets clawed back by the government rather than divided between the parents. In practical terms, both parents end up with less money than they think they are splitting, not more.
Collapsing an RESP purely to get a clean, immediate split of the proceeds is usually the most expensive way to handle it. Before either parent requests a withdrawal or asks the provider to close the account, get advice — once the grant money is repaid, it is gone, and there is no undoing that decision afterward.
This is a different problem from how the family handles shared debt during the same separation — our guide on how debt gets divided in an Ontario divorce covers that side — but the two often come up in the same conversation, since couples trying to divide up accounts quickly sometimes treat the RESP the same way they treat a line of credit, and it simply does not work the same way.
Keeping the RESP Open for the Child
The practical alternative, in most situations, is to leave the RESP open and intact and let it keep doing the job it was set up to do: fund the child's education when the time comes. This is generally how separating parents preserve the grant money rather than losing it — the account simply continues, contributions can continue if both parents agree, and the eventual withdrawals are used for tuition, books, and other qualifying education costs when the child enrolls.
Thinking about the RESP alongside the family's other ongoing financial obligations to the child — such as the running costs addressed through child support calculations — also helps put it in perspective: the RESP is a long-term education fund, not a substitute for current support, and it should not be treated as a bargaining chip against support obligations.
Who Controls the RESP After You Separate
One detail that catches parents off guard: separation, by itself, does not change who legally controls the RESP. If both of you were named as joint subscribers while you were together, that joint legal structure simply continues after you separate — it does not automatically split, transfer, or default to one parent just because the relationship ended. Without something in writing that says otherwise, you can end up years later with an account that still legally requires both former spouses to agree on withdrawals, changes, or closing it — even if one of you has had little contact with the other in the meantime.
Do not assume that whoever is the primary parent, or whoever opened the account originally, is automatically in sole control after separation. Confirm the actual subscriber designation with the RESP provider, in writing, rather than relying on who historically managed the account day-to-day.
This is exactly the kind of ambiguity a properly drafted separation agreement is meant to resolve — naming the subscriber and the decision-making process in writing now is far cheaper than disputing it later, once the child is actually old enough for the money to matter.
Opening a New Joint RESP After Separation
Some separated or divorced parents ask whether they can open a brand-new joint RESP together after they have already split up — for example, if they want a fresh account with clearer rules going forward. The honest answer is that this genuinely varies by RESP provider and plan type, and the sources on this point do not agree. Some institutions may permit it; others may not, depending on their internal policies for joint subscribers who are not married or common-law partners of each other. Rather than assuming either outcome, this is a question to put directly to the financial institution before you plan around it.
Whatever the provider allows, both parents should have the same accurate picture of the existing account before deciding anything — the same principle behind full financial disclosure elsewhere in a separation applies here too, since a parent who is vague about the RESP's balance or grant history can make a new joint account look like a cleaner option than it actually is.
Splitting One RESP Into Two Accounts
A related question is whether an existing joint RESP can be split into two separate, individual-plan RESPs for the same child — effectively dividing one account into two so each parent manages their own going forward. This may be possible in some cases depending on the RESP provider and the type of plan involved, but it is not something you should assume works smoothly or is available everywhere. The safer approach is to raise it directly with the RESP provider and a financial advisor, and confirm in writing exactly how a split (if available) would affect the existing grant money, before treating it as a settled plan.
RESP contract terms, including whether a plan can be split or jointly reopened, are set by the individual financial institution administering the plan — not by family law generally. A lawyer can tell you what your separation agreement should require; only the provider can tell you what their specific plan actually permits.
Addressing the RESP in Your Agreement
The clearest practical path through all of this is to address the RESP explicitly in your separation agreement, rather than leaving it as an unresolved loose end. At minimum, a well-drafted agreement should set out:
- Who remains the subscriber (or subscribers) on the account going forward
- Whether contributions will continue, by whom, and in what amounts
- Who has authority to approve or request withdrawals once the child reaches post-secondary age
- How the funds will be used, and how any dispute between the parents about withdrawals will be resolved
- What happens to the account if the child does not pursue post-secondary education
Because the RESP interacts with other education-related costs — tuition and incidental expenses are often addressed separately as section 7 special expenses, and support obligations can extend into a child's university years under the principles covered in our guide to child support for a university-age adult child — it is worth having your lawyer look at the RESP provisions alongside the support and special-expenses provisions together, rather than drafting each in isolation.
It is also the right moment to make sure full financial disclosure has actually happened — an RESP is easy to overlook or understate in disclosure compared to a bank account or investment portfolio, and both parents should confirm the account's current balance, contribution history, and grant room before signing anything.
If the Child Skips Post-Secondary
It is worth planning for the possibility that the child does not end up pursuing post-secondary education at all, or delays it well past the plan's normal timelines. RESPs have their own specific rules for this scenario, affecting both the accumulated grant money and the parents' original contributions, and the details depend on the plan type and timing. Rather than guessing at how that would play out, raise it directly with the RESP provider and have your separation agreement at least acknowledge that this scenario exists and specify how the parents will handle it if it happens.
It is also worth noting that if the child instead pursues education and the family ends up sharing costs beyond what the RESP covers, those additional costs are typically handled as section 7 special expenses rather than drawn informally from whichever parent has easier access to cash.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The recurring errors we see are fairly consistent: collapsing the RESP early just to get a clean cash split, without realizing the grant money will be repaid to the government rather than divided; leaving the subscriber designation unaddressed in the separation agreement and assuming it will sort itself out later; assuming a new joint RESP or a one-into-two split is automatically available without checking with the provider first; and treating the RESP as interchangeable with ordinary family property instead of giving it the specific, provider-informed attention it needs. If you are still working through the broader financial picture of your separation, our guide to property division in an Ontario divorce is the right starting point for everything beyond the RESP itself — including how a pension or the matrimonial home get handled alongside it.
Not sure how to protect your child's education savings in your separation agreement, or dealing with an RESP provider that is not cooperating with both parents? Our Toronto family lawyers can help. Call 416-274-2222 for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nothing happens to it automatically — the account keeps existing exactly as it was set up. The practical question is what the parents choose to do with it: whether to leave it open and intact for the child’s education, or to collapse it, which generally means repaying the government grant money. Separation agreements should address the RESP directly rather than leaving its future to chance.
No, and in most cases you should not. Closing (collapsing) an RESP before the child actually uses it for post-secondary education generally means the government grant portion has to be repaid, so the family loses that money rather than splitting it. Keeping the account open for its intended purpose is usually the better financial outcome for both parents and the child.
The Canada Education Savings Grant is a federal grant the government adds on top of your own RESP contributions, up to certain limits, to encourage saving for a child’s education. It is not your money to simply withdraw as cash — if the RESP is collapsed before the child uses it for school, the CESG portion generally must be repaid to the government, which is the single biggest reason not to cash out an RESP just to split proceeds in a separation.
Whoever was named as subscriber before you separated remains the subscriber afterward — separation does not change that automatically. If you were joint subscribers, that joint structure continues unless your separation agreement or a court order specifically changes it. This is exactly why the agreement needs to spell out who stays on as subscriber, who contributes, and who authorizes withdrawals going forward.
This genuinely varies by RESP provider and plan type, and sources on this point are not consistent. Some financial institutions may allow former spouses to open or maintain a joint RESP after separation; others may not, depending on their internal policies. Rather than assuming either way, confirm directly with the RESP provider before relying on this option in your planning.
This may be possible in some cases, depending on the provider and the type of plan (individual versus family plan), but it is not guaranteed and the rules are not uniform across institutions. Before assuming you can divide one account into two individual-plan RESPs for the same child without disturbing the grant money, confirm the specifics with the RESP provider and a financial advisor.
At minimum, it should name who remains the subscriber (or subscribers), who will continue contributing and how much, who has authority to approve or request withdrawals, how the account will be used once the child reaches post-secondary age, and what happens if the parents disagree later. Leaving these points unaddressed is what creates disputes years down the road, often right when the money is actually needed.
RESPs have specific rules that apply when a beneficiary does not pursue post-secondary education, which can affect the grant money and the contributions differently. The details depend on your plan type and timing, so this is a question to raise directly with your RESP provider rather than assume a default outcome — but it is a realistic scenario worth planning for in your separation agreement.
An RESP sits inside the broader picture of equalizing family property, but because it holds a child’s education savings (including non-refundable grant money), it is usually treated differently in practice than ordinary joint savings — the goal is typically to preserve it for the child rather than liquidate and split it like a bank account. Our guide to property division in an Ontario divorce covers how assets are equalized more generally.
Both, and at the same time if possible. Your family lawyer can make sure the separation agreement actually protects the RESP and assigns clear responsibility for it; the RESP provider can tell you what their specific plan actually allows for subscriber changes, joint accounts, or splitting one plan into two. Because provider rules vary, a lawyer alone cannot confirm what your particular institution will or will not do.