Common law rights under the BC Family Law Act essentially mean that you are treated as a married couple. This means that gay and lesbian common law partners or people that have been in a relationship for several years and are not married, have the very same rights as married couples.

This was not the case in previous years. For example, prior to the year 2013, if you were not married and wanted 50% of your partner’s property upon separation, you would have needed to apply for this under different laws. This would not have necessarily guaranteed you the same rights and chances of winning that you have today.

Let’s look at your rights today:

Common-Law Rights for Property and Debt Division

• You would generally receive 50% of the appreciation of family property. This is property which was acquired during your relationship or appreciated in value during your relationship. As an example, if you owned a house worth $200,000 when you started cohabitation and at the time of separation, the value of the house increased and is now worth $1,000,000. You would receive your $200,000 back plus 50% of the appreciated value. That means you would obtain $600,000 and your spouse would obtain $400,000.
• You and your common law spouse would generally be responsible for 50% of any debts accumulated during the cohabitation. As an example, if you took out student loans during the cohabitation and at the time of separation, the balance of the loan was $20,000.You and your ex-spouse would likely each be responsible for 50% of same, meaning you and your ex-spouse would be responsible for paying $10,000 each.

Common-Law Rights for Spousal Support

• Spousal support is generally decided under the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. For more information on temporary spousal support, click here, and for permanent spousal support, click here.
• You can more or less determine your spousal support entitlement by using an online support calculator such as My Support Calculator, however, the amount you will be entitled to can vary based on different factors. Spousal support is mainly based on differences in your net incomes, the length of your cohabitation and whether there are children involved.
• Contact YLaw to find out more about your rights for common-law spousal support, including calculations and the formulas used to determine entitlements.

Common-Law Rights for Child Support

• Child Support is based on your gross incomes and whether the child’s parenting is being shared or whether you or your spouse have the primary residence of your child. Shared parenting means each of you and your spouse having the child in your care more than 40% of the time. Primary residence means you or your spouse have the child in care more than 60% of the time.
• YLaw offers up-to-date and accurate legal information on common law spousal and child support, including how to calculate each type of payment and what to expect in court.

  Contact us today for help with your common law child support questions.

Common Law Rights for Parenting Time with the Child or Guardianship

• Whether you are married or common law, you can rely on the Family Law Act to ask for parenting time with your child. Note that under Divorce Act, which doesn’t apply to common-law couples, ‘parenting time’ is called ‘custody’ and ‘contact’ is called ‘access’.
• Section 37 of the Family Law provides for how a judge should determine parenting time and parental responsibilities for your child:

Best interests of the child

To determine what is in the best interests of a child, all of the child’s needs and circumstances must be considered, including the following:

• the child’s health and emotional well-being;
• the child’s views, unless it would be inappropriate to consider them;
• the nature and strength of the relationships between the child and significant persons in the child’s life;
• the history of the child’s care;
• the child’s need for stability, given the child’s age and stage of development;
• the ability of each person who is a guardian or seeks guardianship of the child, or who has or seeks parental responsibilities, parenting time or contact with the child, to exercise his or her responsibilities;
• the impact of any family violence on the child’s safety, security or well-being, whether the family violence is directed toward the child or another family member;
• whether the actions of a person responsible for family violence indicate that the person may be impaired in his or her ability to care for the child and meet the child’s needs;
• the appropriateness of an arrangement that would require the child’s guardians to cooperate on issues affecting the child, including whether requiring cooperation would increase any risks to the safety, security or well-being of the child or other family members;
• any civil or criminal proceeding relevant to the child’s safety, security or well-being.

An agreement or order is not in the best interests of a child unless it protects, to the greatest extent possible, the child’s physical, psychological and emotional safety, security and well-being.

In making an order under this Part, a court may consider a person’s conduct only if it substantially affects a factor set out in subsection (2), and only to the extent that it affects that factor.

There are other issues relating to common law spouses which require more time and detail. The best way to learn about your full rights is to consult with a BC family lawyer. Our award-winning law firm can help. Call us at 604-974-9529 or email info@ylaw.ca for more information.