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Your relationship may have been brief, but if you and your boyfriend or girlfriend have had a child together you are both responsible for meeting the child's financial needs and you both have the right to be involved in raising the child. You may not have any other rights and obligations towards each other, but you do have the right to parent the child and the duty to pay child support.
Your relationship may have been brief, but if you and your boyfriend or girlfriend have had a child together you are both responsible for meeting the child's financial needs and you both have the right to be involved in raising the child. You may not have any other rights and obligations towards each other, but you do have the right to parent the child and the duty to pay child support.


This chapter is for unmarried couples who have had a child but who either didn't live together or lived together for less than two years. The next chapter, Unmarried Couples > Common-Law Relationships, is for unmarried couples who lived together for two or more years. This chapter provides a brief overview of the legal issues unmarried couples may have to deal with and those they don't, and discusses the two most common issues couples like this have to deal with, child support and the care of children.
This page is for unmarried people who have had a child but who never lived together. It talks about the legal issues unmarried parents may have to deal with and those they don't, and discusses the two most common issues couples like this have to deal with, child support and the care of children.


I. Introduction
==Introduction==


The provincial Family Relations Act applies to couples that are or were in long-term relationships and to couples who weren't in long relationships but have had children together. Almost all relief the act talks about is not available to couples who aren't married and don't qualify as common-law spouses. As a result, people in short relationships will not be entitled to claim spousal support and are excluded from the parts of the act that deal with family assets.
The provincial ''Family Law Act'' applies to couples that are or were in long-term cohabiting relationships and to couples who weren't in long relationships but have had children together. Almost all of the orders the act talks about aren't available to couples who aren't married and don't qualify as unmarried spouses. As a result, people in short relationships will not be entitled to claim spousal support and are excluded from the parts of the act that deal with family property and family debt.


The federal Divorce Act only applies to people who are or were married to each other; it doesn't apply to unmarried couples, including couples who qualify as common-law spouses.
The federal ''Divorce Act'' only applies to people who are or were married to each other; it doesn't apply to unmarried couples, including couples who qualify as unmarried spouses.


A. Relief Available to Unmarried Couples
===Orders Available to Unmarried Couples===
Couples who neither married nor lived together for at least two years will have certain rights and obligations if they have children. In certain circumstances they may be able to make claims about property they both own or about property only one person owns. They will also be entitled to certain government benefits as a result of being parents.
 
Couples who neither married nor lived together will have certain rights and obligations toward one another if they have children. In certain circumstances they may be able to make claims about the property they both own or about property only one person owns, whether they lived together or not. They will also be entitled to certain government benefits as a result of being parents.
 
====Children====


1. Children
There is no minimum length-of-relationship requirement for any claim involving children. A parent is a parent regardless of the nature of the relationship which produced the child.
There is no minimum length-of-relationship requirement for any claim involving children. A parent is a parent regardless of the nature of the relationship which produced the child.


A parent may apply for all of the relief available under the Family Relations Act that concerns children, from child support to custody to the various restraining orders that are available to protect a child. Issues about children are discussed at greater length further on in this chapter.
A parent may apply for all of the relief available under the ''Family Law Act'' that concerns children, from child support to guardianship to the various restraining orders that are available to protect a child from harm. Issues about children are discussed at greater length further on in this chapter.


2. Property
====Property====
In a short relationship, each party will generally be entitled keep whatever he or she brought into the relationship. In the case of jointly owned assets, assets which both parties own and are registered in the names of both parties, like a house or a car, there is a legal presumption that each party has an equal interest in such assets, whether both parties contributed equally to their purchase or not.


It is possible, in certain circumstances, for someone who doesn't own an asset to nevertheless claim an interest in that asset under trust law. There is no minimum length-of-relationship requirement for claims made under the law of trusts.
In a short relationship, each party will generally be entitled keep whatever he or she brought into the relationship. In the case of jointly owned assets, assets which both parties own and are registered in the names of both parties, like a house or a car, there is a legal presumption that each party has an equal interest in such assets, whether the parties contributed equally to their purchase or not.


Depending on the nature of the property claim, relief may be available in Provincial (Small Claims) Court, and you may be able to avoid having to go to the Supreme Court. Small Claims Court can hear straightforward claims, such as for the return of property or the payment of debt, but it cannot deal with trust claims. Only the Supreme Court can do that. You will also want to go to the Supreme Court if the value of the asset in dispute is more than $25,000.
It is possible, in certain circumstances, for someone who doesn't own an asset to nevertheless claim an interest in that asset under the law of trusts and the law of equity. There is no minimum length-of-relationship requirement for claims of this nature.


A lot more information about trust claims to assets can be found in the Family Assets > Dividing Assets chapter.
====Government Benefits====


3. Government Benefits
The most important thing to know on this topic is that most federal legislation defines a ''spouse'' as someone who has been in a cohabiting relationship for at least one year, as opposed to British Columbia's legislation which generally requires a two-year cohabiting relationship to qualify. As a result, someone in a relationship of at least one year may qualify for any federal benefits that depend on a spousal relationship although they probably won't qualify for provincial benefits. People in a relationship of less than one year will not usually qualify for any benefits at all.
The most important thing to know on this topic is that most federal legislation defines a "spouse" as someone who has been in a cohabiting relationship for at least one year, as opposed to British Columbia's legislation which generally requires a two year relationship to qualify. As a result, someone in a relationship of at least one year may qualify for any federal benefits that depend on a spousal relationship although they probably won't qualify for provincial benefits. People in a relationship of less than one year will not usually qualify for any benefits at all.


Benefits relating to children, like the BC Family Bonus, the Canada Child Tax Benefit, the National Child Benefit Supplement and the Universal Child Care Benefit, are available to anyone who is a parent, regardless of the nature of that person's relationship with the other parent. The website of the Canada Revenue Agency has a lot of information about federal and provincial benefits.
Benefits relating to children, like the BC Family Bonus, the Canada Child Tax Benefit, the National Child Benefit Supplement and the Universal Child Care Benefit, are available to anyone who is a parent, regardless of the nature of that person's relationship with the other parent. The website of the Canada Revenue Agency has a lot of information about federal and provincial benefits.


B. Relief Not Available to Unmarried Couples
===Orders Not Available to Unmarried Couples===
Couples who neither married nor lived together for at least two years are not entitled to make claims which depend on being married or having common-law status.
 
A couple who have a child but did not live together, or who lived together for less than two years and did not have a child, cannot ask for orders about spousal support or for orders under the ''Family Law Act'' about the division of property and debt.
 
====Spousal Support====
 
The ''Family Law Act'' defines a "spouse" for the purposes of claims for support as someone who has lived in a marriage-like relationship with someone else for at least two years or for less than two years if the couple has had a child together. As only spouses are eligible for spousal support, people who do not meet these criteria cannot apply for spousal support.
 
====Property====


1. Spousal Support
The ''Family Law Act'' defines a "spouse" for the purposes of claims about property and debt as someone who has lived in a marriage-like relationship with someone else for at least two years. Only spouses may ask for orders about the division of property and debt.
The Family Relations Act defines a "spouse" as someone who has lived in a marriage-like relationship with someone else for at least two years. As only spouses are eligible for spousal support, people in relationships for less than two years will not qualify to claim spousal support from the other party.


2. Property
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The Family Relations Act expressly excludes anyone who isn't legally married from the parts of the act which deal with the division of assets. As a result, all unmarried couples, including common-law couples, cannot rely on the act to divide family assets. The only kind of property claim an unmarried party can advance is through trust law when the asset at issue is not jointly owned.


Back to the top of this chapter.
The only kind of property claim an unmarried party can advance is through trust law when the asset at issue is not jointly owned.


II. Child Support
==Child Support==


Child support is payable by anyone who is the biological parent of a child, regardless of the brevity of the relationship which produced the child. The Family Relations Act says, at s. 88, that:
Child support is payable by anyone who is the biological parent of a child, regardless of the brevity of the relationship which produced the child. The Family Relations Act says, at s. 88, that:
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