FRANCAIS

July 17, 2002

Proposed legislation which would extend family property legislation to common-law partners was introduced today by Attorney General Gord Mackintosh.

The bill would recognize that couples in common-law relationships have obligations and rights to provide for a partner after breakup by sharing property acquired during the relationship and passing on property after death to the survivor.

In December 2001, the Common-law Relationships Review Panel, comprising retired associate chief justice Alvin Hamilton and Jennifer Cooper, former chair of the national family law section of the Canadian Bar Association, advised the province that legislation was necessary to comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"These changes not only help protect vulnerable people in relationships, but recognize that the long-established principles of marital property division should be recognized in legislation for common-law partners, rather than requiring such partners to individually pursue property division in the courts," said Mackintosh.

The bill would amend 56 provincial statutes to include common-law partners in family law legislation dealing with property rights. Persons living in a conjugal relationship for three years or more would automatically be entitled to rights and obligations under the legislation. The minister noted that the definition of marriage, which is a federal responsibility, would be unaffected by the proposed legislative changes.

The legislation would also create a registry system allowing common-law partners to register immediately upon entering into the relationship. Upon registration, couples would assume all the rights and obligations of common-law partners.

Like spouses, common-law partners could opt out of the property sharing regime by simply entering into a written agreement that deals with their property. Opting out of the credit splitting provisions of the pension acts would require a more formal process.

"All too often, it’s only after a common-law relationship breaks down or one of the partners dies that people discover how little protection they have when it comes to dealing with property," said Mackintosh. "The partner who is not the legal owner can be left in terrible shape financially. This legislation seeks to prevent such inequities and recognizes the social reality of common-law couples, whether of the same or opposite sex."

A registered relationship could be ended after the couple had been separated for at least one year by registering its end. Dissolution could be done jointly, or by one party alone after notice is given to the other. If a common-law relationship was never registered, it could be terminated by the passage of time, generally after three years of living apart.

The new laws would apply to all common-law couples who are living together on the date the amendments come into force as long as they register or have cohabited for the required time period. The laws would not apply to any relationships that ended before the date of proclamation.

Nova Scotia, Quebec and Saskatchewan legislation has preceded the Manitoba bill in amending property rights legislation. The proposed legislation, if adopted, would not be proclaimed pending the outcome of Walsh vs. Bona, currently before the Supreme Court of Canada, to ensure that it complies with the procedural direction of the court and to give couples time to order their affairs.

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