Difference between revisions of "Unmarried Spouses"

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==Introduction==
==Introduction==


The legal rights and responsibilities people in an unmarried relationship owe to each other, and the government benefits to which they might be entitled, are described in a number of different laws, and these different laws have different definitions of what it means to be a "spouse" or a "common-law partner"; a couple might meet the test under one law but not the test under another. The really important question is this: ''Do I qualify as a "spouse" under this particular piece of legislation?''
The legal rights and responsibilities people in an unmarried relationship owe to each other, and the government benefits to which they might be entitled, are described in a number of different laws, and these different laws have different definitions of what it means to be a "spouse" or a "common-law partner"; a couple might meet the test under one law but not the test under another.  
 
The really important question you need to ask is this. ''Do I qualify as a "spouse" under this particular piece of legislation?''


Although married couples are always married spouses, unmarried couples aren't always unmarried spouses. For example, the federal ''[http://canlii.ca/t/7vb7 Income Tax Act]'' defines "spouse" as including people who have cohabited for one year, while the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l7 Employment and Assistance Act]'' defines spouse as including people living together for three months if a welfare caseworker believes that their relationship demonstrates "financial dependence or interdependence, and social and familial interdependence."
Although married couples are always married spouses, unmarried couples aren't always unmarried spouses. For example, the federal ''[http://canlii.ca/t/7vb7 Income Tax Act]'' defines "spouse" as including people who have cohabited for one year, while the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l7 Employment and Assistance Act]'' defines spouse as including people living together for three months if a welfare caseworker believes that their relationship demonstrates "financial dependence or interdependence, and social and familial interdependence."

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