Ontario law gives a common law spouse strong rights to support and to their children, and almost no automatic rights to property.
RPB Family Law advises common law partners across Ottawa and Eastern Ontario on exactly where the line falls. This guide sets out what you can claim and what you cannot.
If you want the definitional overview instead, our fuller guide to common law in Ontario covers how the status itself works.
What Common Law Status Means in Ontario
A common law relationship in Ontario is not registered, celebrated, or certified. It arises from how you actually live. The Family Law Act treats you as a spouse for support purposes once you meet a cohabitation threshold. Different statutes set different thresholds.
Nothing about common law status is automatic in the way marriage is. You acquire some legal rights by living together, and you never acquire others, no matter how long the relationship lasts.
The Three-Year Cohabitation Test Under the Family Law Act
Section 29 of the Family Law Act defines a spouse, for support purposes, as a person who has cohabited in a conjugal relationship continuously for at least three years, or who is in a relationship of some permanence and has a child with their partner. There is no waiting period in the second case.
Courts assess whether a marriage-like relationship existed by looking at shared finances, living arrangements, and how the two of you presented yourselves to family.
Disputes about the date of separation and about whether a continuous period was ever established are common, and they decide entitlement before any number is calculated.
For the timelines themselves, see our breakdown of how long is common law in Ontario.
How Common Law Couples and Married Couples Are Treated Differently
Married spouses receive statutory protections on the day they marry. Common law couples do not. The practical differences fall into a short list:
- Property division: married couples share the growth in value of property through equalization of net family property; common law partners have no statutory right to it.
- The family home: married spouses hold possessory rights to the matrimonial home regardless of title; common law partners hold none.
- Inheritance: a married spouse inherits under the Succession Law Reform Act when there is no will; a common law partner does not.
- Ending it: married couples need a divorce; common law couples simply separate.
Spousal support and child support obligations apply to both, on the same tests and the same guidelines.
What Are Your Rights as a Common Law Spouse Following a Separation?
Support claims and parenting claims do not depend on marital status, and the analysis a court applies to you is the same analysis it applies to a married couple. The Divorce Act does not reach you, but the Family Law Act and the Children’s Law Reform Act do.
A common-law spouse can bring a claim from the day the relationship ends. At RPB Law, we act for payors and recipients alike.
Talk to an Ottawa Family Lawyer About Your Support Entitlements
A confidential, no-obligation consultation costs you nothing. We act for clients in Ottawa and the communities we serve across Eastern Ontario.
Book a ConsultationSpousal Support Entitlement for Common-Law Partners
Entitlement turns on need, on the other partner’s ability to pay, and on the roles each of you took during the relationship. A partner who left the workforce to raise children or to support a business has a compensatory claim. A partner who is worse off after separation may have a needs-based one, where the claim is for ongoing financial support rather than compensation.
The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines set the ranges once entitlement is established. Income, length of cohabitation, and the presence of children drive the calculation. Support can be periodic or a lump sum, and interim spousal support is available while the case is pending.
Our spousal support lawyers in Ottawa work through entitlement before anyone argues about quantum.
Child Support and Decision-Making Responsibility
Child support belongs to the child, not to the parent receiving it, and it is calculated the same way for every parent in Ontario.
The Federal Child Support Guidelines set the table amount based on the payor’s guideline income and the number of children. Section 7 expenses cover childcare, orthodontics, and post-secondary costs, shared in proportion to income. Circumstances shift. Retroactive support and a motion to change are both available when they do.
Parenting is different. The best interests of the child govern under the Children’s Law Reform Act.
Read more on how child support is calculated, or on parenting time and decision-making responsibility.
Property Rights, Pensions and Estate Entitlements for Common-Law Partners
Ontario’s equalization scheme in Part I of the Family Law Act applies to married spouses only, so no automatic property rights attach to anything either of you bought. The legal owner keeps what is in their name.
There is no right of exclusive possession over the home. The division of property becomes a matter of proof rather than formula, which is a slower and more expensive road than equalization. Common law partners are not without recourse. Ontario courts have built a body of equitable remedies for exactly this situation. They are worth understanding before you move out.
Unjust Enrichment
An unjust enrichment claim asks the court to reverse a benefit one partner received at the other’s expense. You must show three things:
- your partner was enriched
- you suffered a corresponding deprivation
- and there is no juristic reason for it.
The Supreme Court of Canada set the modern framework in Kerr v. Baranow and its companion case Vanasse v. Seguin, which recognised the joint family venture and allowed compensation measured on a value-survived basis rather than a bare quantum meruit calculation. Where that succeeds, the court can award you a fair share of the asset.
Claims live or die on evidence. Keep records of financial contributions and non-financial contributions alike: renovation invoices, mortgage payments, unpaid labour in a partner’s business, years of childcare that let the other person build a career.
Our property division lawyers can tell you within a meeting whether a property claim is worth pursuing.
CPP Credit Splitting
CPP credit splitting is one entitlement common law partners genuinely share with married spouses. You can divide the Canada Pension Plan credits earned while you lived together if the cohabitation lasted at least 12 months, and the application deadline is four years from the date of separation.
A survivor’s pension under the Canada Pension Plan is also available to a surviving common-law partner.
How to Protect Yourself in a Common Law Relationship
A domestic contract is how unmarried couples protect their rights in advance. Ontario recognises domestic contracts under Part IV of the Family Law Act, and a properly executed contract overrides almost all of the default rules that leave common-law partners exposed.
The agreement has to be in writing, signed, and witnessed. Beyond that, the enforceability of what you sign depends almost entirely on how you made it.
Cohabitation Agreements, Separation Agreements and Independent Legal Advice
A cohabitation agreement is written while the relationship is healthy and sets out who owns what, how expenses are shared, and what happens on separation or death. A separation agreement does the same job after the relationship ends, covering property, support obligations, and parenting arrangements in one enforceable agreement. Either one is dramatically cheaper than litigation.
Three things make an agreement hold up:
- Full financial disclosure. Both partners exchange complete financial information, the same disclosure a court would demand on a Form 13.1. Agreements get set aside for hidden assets more often than for unfair terms.
- Independent legal advice. Each partner retains their own lawyer and signs an ILA certificate. Without it, the other side can later argue they did not understand what they gave up.
- No pressure. An agreement signed days before a wedding, or under threat, invites a challenge years later.
Most of our common law files never see a courtroom. Negotiation and divorce and separation mediation resolve them. Arbitration and litigation are reserved for cases that genuinely need a court order. We can draft, review, or provide independent legal advice on any separation agreement in Ontario.
Book a Confidential Consultation About Your Property and Pension Claims
Bring what you have, and we will tell you where you stand. Pension division and property claims reward early advice. Jointly owned assets are easier to sort out before anyone moves.
Talk to a LawyerCommon Law Entitlement Questions We Hear Most Often
Is a common law partner entitled to half the house?
No, not automatically. There is no matrimonial home right for unmarried couples, so the person on title keeps the property. You may still claim a share through unjust enrichment or a constructive trust if you contributed money or unpaid work toward it.
How long do you have to live together to be common law?
Three years of continuous cohabitation under the Family Law Act, or less if you have a child together and the relationship has some permanence. The CRA and the Canada Pension Plan apply shorter tests for their own purposes, so you can be common law for taxes and not yet for support.
Does a surviving partner inherit without a will?
No. A common law partner receives nothing under Ontario’s intestacy rules. A dependant’s support claim against the estate may be available, but a will, a joint tenancy, or a beneficiary designation is far more reliable.
Do I need a family lawyer for a common law separation?
Not always, but the stakes are usually higher than people expect. If there is a home in one name, a pension, a business, or a support claim in either direction, get legal advice before you sign anything or move out.
Speak With an Ottawa Common-Law Separation Lawyer
RPB Law offers a confidential, no-obligation consultation. Call 613-216-5044 or contact our Ottawa family law team and we will explain your options in plain language.
Schedule a ConsultationThis article provides general legal information about common law rights in Ontario and is not legal advice. Every file turns on its own facts, so speak with a lawyer about your situation.
