Common-law partners and inheritance: three provinces, three answers

About a quarter of Canadian couples live common-law, and most assume the law treats them roughly like married couples by now. In two of our three provinces, it broadly does. In the biggest one, it does not at all — and people discover this at the worst possible moment.

Ontario: nothing automatic

Under the Succession Law Reform Act, the intestacy rules use “spouse” in the married sense. A common-law partner — five years, twenty years, children together, it does not matter — inherits nothing automatically if you die without a will. The house in your sole name goes to your children or your parents, not your partner.

The partner’s only recourse is a dependant’s support claim under Part V of the SLRA — asking a court for support as your dependant. That is litigation: months or years, legal fees, an uncertain outcome, and your partner suing your children or your parents while grieving.

There is also no matrimonial-home protection and no equalization claim for common-law partners in Ontario family law. The whole structure assumes marriage.

If you live common-law in Ontario, a will is not paperwork — it is the only mechanism by which your partner inherits.

British Columbia: two years to full spousal status

WESA defines “spouse” to include a person who lived with the deceased in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years. From that anniversary, your partner has exactly a married spouse’s rights: the household furnishings and the $300,000/$150,000 preferential share on intestacy, and — remarkably — standing to bring a wills variation claim under s 60 if your will fails to provide adequately for them.

Note the reverse edge: in BC you cannot casually disinherit a two-year partner either, because the variation power reaches them.

Alberta: the adult interdependent partner

Alberta invented its own category. An AIP — someone in a “relationship of interdependence” with you for three years, or less with a child together, or immediately by signed AIP agreement — has full spousal rights on intestacy under the Wills and Succession Act, and standing for family maintenance claims against a will.

The three-year clock and the “relationship of interdependence” test produce fights around the edges (roommates? caregivers? on-and-off relationships?), which is again the argument for a will: a document beats a trial about your living arrangements.

What to actually do

Make wills — both of you. Name each other explicitly; a will removes every “were we spouses enough?” question in all three provinces. Check your beneficiary designations too: RRSP and insurance designations work identically for common-law and married partners, and are often the biggest assets. Twenty minutes each, $15 each right now.