Difference between revisions of "Unmarried Spouses"

{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = relationships}}

Shelter:

Children:

What was the attitude and conduct of the parties concerning children?

"Spousal relationships are many and varied. Individuals in spousal relationships, whether they are married or not, structure their relationships differently. In some relationships there is a complete blending of finances and property — in others, spouses keep their property and finances totally separate and in still others one spouse may totally control those aspects of the relationship with the other spouse having little or no knowledge or input. For some couples, sexual relations are very important — for others, that aspect may take a back seat to companionship. Some spouses do not share the same bed. There may be a variety of reasons for this such as health or personal choice. Some people are affectionate and demonstrative. They show their feelings for their 'spouse' by holding hands, touching and kissing in public. Other individuals are not demonstrative and do not engage in public displays of affection. Some 'spouses' do everything together — others do nothing together. Some 'spouses' vacation together and some spend their holidays apart. Some 'spouses' have children — others do not. It is this variation in the way human beings structure their relationships that make the determination of when a 'spousal relationship' exists difficult to determine. With married couples, the relationship is easy to establish. The marriage ceremony is a public declaration of their commitment and intent. Relationships outside marriage are much more difficult to ascertain. Rarely is there any type of 'public' declaration of intent. Often people begin cohabiting with little forethought or planning. Their motivation is often nothing more than wanting to 'be together'. Some individuals have chosen to enter relationships outside marriage because they did not want the legal obligations imposed by that status. Some individuals have simply given no thought as to how their relationship would operate. Often the date when the cohabitation actually began is blurred because people 'ease into' situations, spending more and more time together. Agreements between people verifying when their relationship began and how it will operate often do not exist."

To be clear, though, mere roommates will never qualify as common-law spouses. There needs to be some other dimension to the relationship indicative of a committment between the parties and their shared belief that they are in a special relationship with each other.

While a claim for child support with respect to a child of the parties will remain open until the child reaches the age of 19, and possibly longer, there are three important things you need to know about claims for spousal support and claims for child support against stepparents:

In terms of when a relationship is considered to have ended, a recent case of the British Columbia Supreme Court took the view that the "marriage-like" quality a common-law relationship must have is fundamental to the nature of the relationship, and thus to the date from which the limitation period will begin to run. As a result a the marriage-like quality of a relationship can end before a couple physically separates, and the limitiation period will run from that date rather than the date someone moves out.

Providing a couple qualify as spouses, either party is entitled to seek an order for spousal support under the Family Relations Act. The same principles apply to spouses from common-law relationships as apply to married spouses: the party claiming support must be able to show that he or she is financially dependant on the other party because of the way the couple chose to live during the relationship, that he or she has suffered an economic disadvantage arising from the relationship, or that he or she has suffered an economic disadvantage arising from the breakdown of the relationship. The simple fact of having been in a common-law relationship does not guarantee that spousal support will be paid; the person seeking support must establish that he or she is entitled to support.