General Information
What is the test for proving a marriage-like relationship?
Ending a common law relationship.
The bottom-line about common law relationships.

General Information.
You are in a common law (judge made law) relationship if you live as a couple but are not married.

The law recognizes common law relationships between opposite-sex and same-sex couples after the couple has been in a "marriage-like" relationship for a certain amount of time. Under most federal laws, that time is one year. Under most provincial laws, that time is two years.
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What is the test for proving a marriage-like relationship?
To determine whether an unmarried couple was in a marriage-like relationship, a court will look for evidence that would show that they were. Some of the characteristics are:

• What was the duration of the relationship?
• Did the couple refer to themselves, when talking to their friends, as husband and wife, or as spouses, or in some equivalent way that recognized a long-term commitment?
• Did they share the legal rights to their living accommodation?
• Did they share in the household duties?
• Did they couple have a sexual relationship?
• Did they have children?
• Did they share their property?
• Did they share their finances and their bank accounts?
• Did they share their vacations?
• What was the degree of financial dependence, interdependence or arrangements for financial support between the parties?
• Did one of them surrender financial independence and become economically dependant on the other, in accordance with a mutual arrangement.
• In short, did they share their lives?

Courts recognize that these elements may be present in varying degrees and not all are necessary for the relationship to be found to be marriage like.
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Ending a common law relationship.
Common-law relationships end when you or your partner moves out. Contrary to popular belief, common-law couples are not married. Without a civil or religious ceremony, you are not married and there are no legal steps, which must be taken to end the relationship (as is the case with married couples, who require a divorce Order to legally terminate their marriage).

The same idea about separation applies to people in relationships of less than two years' duration. Your relationship ends when you separate or stop seeing each other.

When you decide to end your common law relationship, there is no need to apply to a court to do this (as is the case with married couples, who require a divorce Order to legally terminate their marriage).
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The bottom-line about common law relationships.
While ending a common law relationship doesn't require the formal steps required to end a marriage, if you and your partner have property, children or support issues, they can be much more complicated than if you were in a married relationship. An experienced family law lawyer can assist with any or all of these matters.
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