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Difference between revisions of "Polyamorous Relationships"
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Even though the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' seems to be pretty flexible as far as people in polyamorous relationships are concerned, there are still problems that need to be worked out. 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 when there's 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 the family property. | Even though the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' seems to be pretty flexible as far as people in polyamorous relationships are concerned, there are still problems that need to be worked out. 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 when there's 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 the family property. | ||
Even though there are a handful of court decisions involving polyamorous families, the number of those decisions is surprisingly small given what we know about the prevalence of polyamorous relationships in Canada. There are likely | Even though there are a handful of court decisions involving polyamorous families, the number of those decisions is surprisingly small given what we know about the prevalence of polyamorous relationships in Canada. There are likely three 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 pursue claims in court if they're not going to obviously qualify as ''spouses'', ''partners'', ''parents'' and so on under the local legislation. Challenging legislation under the equality provisions of the Canadian Constitution is expensive and time-consuming. | 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 pursue claims in court if they're not going to obviously qualify as ''spouses'', ''partners'', ''parents'' and so on under the local legislation. Challenging legislation under the equality provisions of the Canadian Constitution is expensive and time-consuming. | ||
Secondly, it's also possible — in fact, it's quite likely — that people in polyamorous relationships intentionally avoid going to 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, | Secondly, it's also possible — in fact, it's quite likely — that people in polyamorous relationships intentionally avoid going to 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, their arrangements for covering household bills, assigning responsibility for repairs and maintenance, their living arrangements, and their 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, costly and protracted affair. Especially if how the law — on basic issues like child support, spousal support, and the division of property — applies to polyamorous families isn't resolved. It makes perfect sense that you'd choose to avoid court and head to mediation, collaborative negotiation and arbitration as infinitely preferable alternatives! | ||
Finally, it also seems likely that people entering polyamorous relationships, especially relationships that involve people living together, buying property together or having children together, would make plans for the management and termination of their relationship well ahead of time. A lot of the contact I've had with people in polyamorous relationships involves helping them plan and sign ''cohabitation agreements''. These agreements aren't particularly common, or particularly useful, for people in pair relationships, but they're indispensable for people in polyamorous relationships. | |||
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 | 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 more than two people start seeing each other, never mind start living together. | ||
===Subject matter=== | ===Subject matter=== | ||
