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Difference between revisions of "Marriage (3:III)"
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Desy Wahyuni (talk | contribs) (Created page with "{{LSLAP Manual TOC|expanded = family}} == A. Marriage == Marriage creates a legal relationship between two people, giving each certain legal rights and obligations. A marria...") |
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At the time of the ceremony, both parties must be capable of understanding the nature of the ceremony and the rights and responsibilities involved in marriage. | At the time of the ceremony, both parties must be capable of understanding the nature of the ceremony and the rights and responsibilities involved in marriage. | ||
==== e) Residency ==== | |||
The ''Civil Marriage Act'', SC 2005, c 33 was passed in 2014. With this new act, marriages performed in Canada between non-Canadian residents will be valid in Canada, regardless of the law in either spouse’s country of residence. Additionally, Canadian courts will be able to grant divorces to non-resident spouses who were married in Canada, and who are unable to get divorced in their own state because that state does not recognize the validity of the marriage. | |||
=== 2. Foreign Marriages === | |||
The common law rule is that the formalities of marriage – i.e. who can marry, who can perform weddings – are those of the law where the marriage took place, while the legal capacity of each party is governed by the law of the place where they live. | |||
=== 3. Sham Marriages === | |||
When parties marry solely for some purpose such as tax benefits or immigration status, the marriage may be voidable for lack of intent. However, the marriage may not be void for lack of intent alone, and courts may find the marriage valid and binding when the parties consented to the union (for example, see ''Grewal v Kaur'', 2009 Carswell Ont 7511, 84 Imm LR (3d) 227 (Ont SCJ). Sham marriages are uncommon. | |||
=== 4. Customary Marriage === | |||
The law recognizes traditional customary marriages of Aboriginal people in some circumstances where the marriage meets the criteria of English common law. | |||
== B. Common Law Relationships == | |||
=== 1. General === | |||
Common law spouses have certain rights/obligations conferred on them by various statutes and the common law. Each statute may give a slightly different definition of a common law “spouse”. A general rule is that for most federal legislation it takes one year of living together in a “marriage-like relationship” to qualify as common law and for most provincial legislation it takes two years to qualify (See ''Takacs v. Gallo'' (1998), 157 D.L.R. (4th) 623 for a summary of the indicators to be considered when determining whether parties have lived in a “marriage-like relationship”; see ''Matteucci v Greenberg'', 2014 BCSC 1434; ''Trudeau v Panter'', 2013 BCSC 706 that merely living together does not mean a relationship is marriage-like). Under the ''FLA'', a person will be considered a ‘spouse’ if they have lived in a marriage-like relationship and have a child together (for spousal support only), or if they have lived in a marriage-like relationship for a continuous period of 2 years (see ''CAM. v MDQ'', 2014 BCPC 110 regarding the child exception to living together for two years). This period begins when the couple began to live together in a marriage-like relationship. Someone separating within two years of ''FLA'' coming into force is a spouse (''Meservy v Field'', 2013 BCSC 2378). See [[Family Law Glossary (3:App A) | Section XV: Glossary]] at the end of this chapter for a brief list of definitions. For more extensive definitions, consult the current legislation. Remember that a common law relationship is not a legal marriage. Nevertheless, where legal rights and obligations are conferred on common law spouses, the relationship is still valid even if one or both of the parties is currently married to someone else. | |||
