No divorce certificate to file. No automatic property rights in most provinces. But the same real issues, assets, debt, support, children, are still on the table. And without the structure that married couples get by default, it's easier to get this wrong.
When a married couple separates, Canadian law gives them a clear framework. The Divorce Act governs parenting and support. Provincial legislation governs property. There's a process, a timeline, and a known endpoint.
Common-law separation has none of that automatic structure. There's no court process to force the issue, no default property rights in most provinces, and no prescribed way to make it official. That's not the same as saying nothing is owed, it just means you have to do more of the work to establish it.
If you have children, those rules are the same as for married couples. The Divorce Act doesn't apply, but provincial legislation does, and the child support guidelines still apply. Parenting time, decision-making, and section 7 expenses work exactly the same way.
| Issue | Married | Common-Law |
|---|---|---|
| Court process to end it | Divorce required. Court application, 1-year separation minimum in Canada. | No process required. You simply separate. No certificate, no filing. |
| Property division | Automatic equalization of net family property (most provinces). | No automatic rights in most provinces. What's in your name is yours, unless a trust claim can be proven. |
| Family home | Both spouses have equal right to possession, even if only one is on title. | Generally no right to possession or equalization unless on title or a claim is established. |
| Spousal support | Available after separation, governed by Divorce Act and SSAG. | May be available after the qualifying cohabitation period. Same SSAG guidelines apply if it does apply. |
| Child support | Federal Child Support Guidelines. Applies universally. | Identical rules. Child support is about the child, not the relationship status of the parents. |
| Parenting plan | Required as part of separation or divorce proceedings if children involved. | Not legally required unless ordered by a court, but strongly advisable. Same substance either way. |
| Inheritance rights | Automatic intestate succession rights in all provinces. | Varies by province. In Ontario, no automatic inheritance rights without a will. |
Common-law property law is set by province. The rules in British Columbia are meaningfully different from Ontario. Quebec stands apart entirely. Know which rules apply to you before you assume anything.
Ontario's property equalization regime applies only to married spouses. Common-law partners have no automatic right to share in each other's property, even after many years together.
That doesn't mean you have no options. If you contributed to a property, financially, through work, or by relying on a reasonable expectation, you may have a claim based on unjust enrichment or constructive trust. These are legal doctrines that allow courts to recognize contributions that were never formalised. But they have to be argued and proven. They're not automatic.
Spousal support can apply after three years of cohabitation, or less if you have a child together. The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG) apply the same way as for married spouses.
BC goes further than most provinces. Under the BC Family Law Act, common-law partners (called "spouses" in BC law) who have lived together for at least two years have the same property division rights as married couples.
That means each spouse generally gets an equal share of family property accumulated during the relationship, including the family home, regardless of whose name it's in. Excluded property (brought in before the relationship or received as gifts or inheritance) stays with the original owner, though any growth in its value may be shared.
This makes BC one of the most protective provinces for common-law partners, but it also means you have real obligations to each other that many couples don't expect.
Alberta has its own framework through the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act (AIRA). Qualifying relationships are called "adult interdependent partnerships" and rights attach after three years of cohabitation, or sooner if you have a child together.
Property division in Alberta common-law relationships is not automatic equalization, it's more similar to Ontario's unjust enrichment framework. What's in your name is generally yours. Contributions to joint property, the family home, or a shared business may create claims, but they have to be substantiated.
Spousal support (called "partner support" in Alberta) may be available after the qualifying period, and child support rules are the same as for married couples.
Quebec is an outlier, and the gap between expectation and legal reality here is significant. Under the Quebec Civil Code, common-law partners, called conjoints de fait, have no automatic legal rights to each other's property, no right to spousal support, and no rights under the matrimonial regime that applies to married couples.
This applies regardless of how long you've been together, whether you have children, or how financially entwined your lives are. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed this in Éric v. Lola (2013), the Quebec legislature has the right to treat common-law couples differently.
If you're common-law in Quebec and separating, what you have is what's in your name. Property held jointly is divided according to ownership. Child support for shared children still applies under federal and provincial rules, but support for you as a partner does not exist absent a specific agreement.
The best protection for Quebec common-law couples is a cohabitation agreement made while the relationship is intact. Without one, separation is governed entirely by what each person owns.
Rules vary in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the territories. See all provincial guides →
Common-law couples often have the same practical needs as married ones, they just have fewer default protections. These are the documents that fill that gap.
The time to protect each other is before things go wrong, not after. A cohabitation agreement sets out how property, debt, and finances are handled during and after the relationship, and what happens if you separate. Province-specific throughout.
Even without a divorce process, a written separation agreement is how you make your terms official. It covers property division, debt, spousal support (if applicable), and any financial arrangements. Without it, nothing is binding.
Your relationship status doesn't change what your children need, or what the law requires. A parenting plan sets out parenting time, decision-making, and how you'll handle expenses. The rules are identical to those for married couples.
Child support guidelines apply regardless of whether you were married. If spousal support applies in your province, the same SSAG ranges are used. Run both calculations before you negotiate anything.
Not sure where to start? A personalized roadmap built from your situation, province, cohabitation length, children, property, helps you understand exactly what applies to you and what to do first.
Common-law separation agreements, especially those involving property claims or spousal support, benefit from a lawyer sign-off. FairWell's flat-fee review gets you written feedback and ILA sign-off for a fraction of hourly cost.
It depends on your province and how long you've been together. In British Columbia, common-law partners who've lived together for two years have the same property division rights as married spouses. In Ontario and Alberta, there's no automatic property equalization, but you may still have claims based on unjust enrichment or constructive trust if you contributed to shared property.
In Quebec, the answer is largely no, common-law partners have no automatic property or support rights regardless of cohabitation length.
Children change the calculation: child support applies regardless of relationship status, and parenting rights are the same for common-law as for married parents.
The single most important step is understanding what province-specific rules actually apply to you before you agree to anything or sign anything. The FairWell assessment will give you a personalized breakdown based on your province, cohabitation length, and circumstances.
Possibly, but it depends on your province and how long you cohabited. In Ontario, common-law partners may claim spousal support after three years of cohabitation, or sooner if you have a child together. In British Columbia and Alberta, similar qualifying periods apply.
Quebec is the exception: there is no spousal support for common-law partners in Quebec under any circumstances, unless there's a written agreement that provides for it.
Where spousal support does apply, the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG) are used to determine ranges for amount and duration, the same guidelines used for married spouses. The factors that matter are the length of the relationship, income disparity, economic disadvantage caused by the relationship, and each person's ability to become self-sufficient.
If you think you may have a support claim, or may face one, run the spousal support calculator first to understand the range.
Property held jointly, where both names are on title, is generally divided according to ownership percentage, usually 50/50. That's relatively straightforward.
The harder question is property in one person's name where the other partner contributed financially or otherwise. Outside of BC (which has automatic equalization), a common-law partner can argue a claim based on unjust enrichment or constructive trust. These require demonstrating that you made a contribution, money, labor, or other sacrifice, that enriched the other person without a corresponding benefit to you, and without a legal reason for the arrangement.
These claims can be made successfully, but they require evidence and they're contested. The more you documented contributions, joint bank accounts, shared mortgage payments, home improvement costs, the stronger your position.
If there's significant shared property, a lawyer review of any separation agreement you draft is strongly advised. FairWell's flat-fee review is a practical way to get that sign-off without the full cost of retaining counsel.
Not necessarily, but it depends on what's at stake. If there's no shared property, no children, no significant financial entanglement, and you both agree the relationship is over with nothing owed, you may not need formal legal help at all.
But if there's property, support, or children involved, a written separation agreement is strongly advisable even without a formal legal process. Without it, nothing is enforceable if things change later.
For most common-law separations, the most practical approach is: use FairWell to structure your agreement, understand your numbers, and prepare your documents, then have a family lawyer review and sign off. That gets you a binding, enforceable document without the cost of starting from scratch with counsel.
A property dispute or a challenged unjust enrichment claim is a different matter. If the other person is contesting what you believe you're owed, that usually requires proper legal advice and potentially litigation. FairWell isn't a substitute for that.
Very little, in practice. Parenting rights and obligations apply equally to common-law and married parents. The Divorce Act does not apply to common-law couples, but each province has its own family law legislation that covers parenting for all parents regardless of relationship status.
Child support is calculated using the federal Child Support Guidelines in all provinces, regardless of whether you were married. The formula is based on income and parenting time, full stop.
Section 7 expenses, childcare, medical, extracurriculars, post-secondary, are shared proportionally to income the same way as for married parents.
One area that can differ: if you're not on your child's birth certificate (relevant mainly to non-birthing parents in common-law relationships), you may need to formally establish parentage before parenting rights are recognized. This is rare but worth checking if relevant to your situation.
A parenting plan is just as important for common-law parents as for married ones, the children's needs and the legal framework are the same.
If you're in a province where automatic rights don't apply, Ontario, Alberta, or Quebec in particular, then a cohabitation agreement is the most direct way to create the protections that marriage provides by default.
It can specify how property is owned during the relationship, what happens to shared assets if you separate, whether support applies and in what amount, and how contributions to property (like one person owning the home but both paying into it) will be recognized.
In BC, where common-law spouses already have significant automatic rights, a cohabitation agreement can still be used to modify those defaults, for example, to protect pre-relationship assets or business interests, or to set out specific arrangements you've agreed to.
The honest advice is this: if you've been together more than a year, own property together or separately, or either of you has significantly more assets or income than the other, a cohabitation agreement is worth doing. It's a fraction of the cost of sorting out an unplanned separation. FairWell builds them for $399, province-specific, with a lawyer review option.
Start with a free assessment. Get a personalized breakdown of what rules apply in your province, what you may be owed, and what documents you actually need.