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Difference between revisions of "Polyamorous Relationships"
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Polyamorous Relationships (view source)
Revision as of 01:23, 28 February 2020
, 01:23, 28 February 2020→Family law agreements
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==Family law agreements== | ==Family law agreements== | ||
Even though the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' turns out to be pretty flexible as far as people in polyamorous relationships are concerned, there are still problems. We haven't yet had a court decide how child support should work when there's more than one parent from the same relationship who's liable to pay child support. We haven't had a court decide how to apply the [[Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines]] when there's more than one spouse from the same relationship who's liable to pay spousal support, or more than one spouse who's entitled to receive it. And we haven't had a court decide how to divide property when there's more than two spouses who're entitled to share in family property. | |||
Even though there are a handful of court decisions involving polyamorous families, the number of decisions is surprisingly small given what little we do know about the prevalence of polyamorous relationships. There are likely two reasons for this. | |||
Firstly, the laws of the other provinces and territories are nowhere near as adaptable to polyamorous relationships as British Columbia's ''Family Law Act''. It may be that when push comes to shove, people simple don't purse claims in court if they're not going to qualify as ''spouses'', ''partners'', ''parents'' and so on under the local legislation. | |||
Secondly, it is also possible that people in polyamorous relationships consciously choose to avoid court when their relationships come to an end, and resolve their differences in other ways. Polyamorous relationships tend to be very complex in terms of the expectations of family members, the arrangements for covering household bills, assigning responsibility for repairs and maintenance, and the arrangements for the ownership of property. Dragging these issues through court, even in a province with laws friendly to polyamorous relationships, would be an arduous, expensive and time-consuming affair. Especially if the basic law on things like child support, spousal support and the division of property isn't resolved. It makes perfect sense that you'd choose to avoid court and head to mediation, collaborative negotiation and arbitration as inifinitely preferable alternatives. | |||
Even better than mediation and arbitration ''leaving'' a relationship, however, is signing a cohabitation agreement ''entering'' a relationship. | |||
In my experience, polyamorous relationships rarely "just happen." They tend to be the product of a huge amount of discussion and negotiation, about easy financial and mathematical issues as well as super hard emotional and psychological issues, long before any more formalized relationship begins. | |||
==Resources and links== | ==Resources and links== | ||
