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Parents (view source)

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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 may have the right to participate in parenting the child and you do have the obligation 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 may have the right to participate in parenting the child and you do have the obligation to pay child support.


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.
This page is for unmarried people who have had a child but who never lived together, and are therefore not spouses. 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.


==Introduction==
==Introduction==
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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.
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.


===Relief Available to Unmarried Couples===
===Orders Available to Unmarried Couples===


Couples who neither married nor lived together will have certain rights and obligations toward one another if they have a child. One or both of them will also be entitled to certain government benefits as a result of being parents.
Couples who neither married nor lived together have certain rights and obligations toward one another if they have a child. One or both of them will also be entitled to certain government benefits as a result of being parents.


====Children====
====Children====
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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 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 page.
A parent may apply for all of the orders available under the ''Family Law Act'' that concern 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 in a little more detail further on in this page.


====Property====
====Separately and Jointly Owned 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 the parties contributed equally to their purchase or not.
In a short relationship, each party will generally be entitled keep whatever he or she brought into the relationship and anything received as a gift from the other party.


====Government Benefits====
In the case of jointly owned assets, property 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.


The most important thing to know about government benefits 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.
===Orders Not Available to Unmarried Couples===


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.
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 under the ''Family Law Act'' about child support for the benefit of stepchildren, spousal support or about the division of family property and family debt. Only people who qualify as spouses make ask for orders about these subjects.


===Relief Not Available to Unmarried Couples===
====Spousal Support====


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 under the ''Family Law Act'' about spousal support or about the division of property and debt.
Section 3 of 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.


====Spousal Support====
====Child Support for Stepchildren====


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.
Stepparents can be required to pay child support for the benefit of their stepchildren. However, s. 146 of the ''Family Law Act'' defines a ''stepparent'' as someone who is "a spouse of the child's parent". As a result, someone in an unmarried relationship that doesn't qualify as a spousal relationship cannot be made to pay child support for the other party's children.


====Property====
====Property====


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 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.
===Government Benefits===
The most important thing to know about government benefits 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.
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.
==Rights and Responsibiities of Unmarried Parents==
Couples who neither married nor lived together but have had a child together can ask for orders about the care of their child and child support for their child under the provincial ''Family Law Act''.


==Child Support==
==Child Support==


Child support is payable by anyone who is the parent of a child, regardless of the brevity of the relationship which produced the child. The ''Family Law Act'' says, at s. 147, that each parent has a duty to provide support for his or her child.
Child support is payable by anyone who is the parent of a child, regardless of the brevity of the relationship which produced the child. The ''Family Law Act'' says, at s. 147, that "each parent" has a duty to provide support for his or her child.


According to s. 150(1) of the act, child support is to be paid in the amount determined under the Child Support Guidelines. As a result, all of the provisions of the Guidelines apply to unmarried parents, including:
Under s. 150(1) of the act, child support is to be paid in the amount determined under the Child Support Guidelines. As a result, all of the provisions of the Guidelines apply to unmarried parents, including:


#the tables that are used to calculate the amount of child support payable;
#the tables that are used to calculate the amount of child support payable;
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Additional information about child support and the Guidelines can be found in the Child Support chapter of this wiki. Additional information about paternity and paternity testing can be found in the ____ page.
Additional information about child support and the Guidelines can be found in the Child Support chapter of this wiki. Additional information about paternity and paternity testing can be found in the ____ page.


==The Care of Children==
===The Care of Children===


Under s. 40(1) of the ''Family Law Act'', only people who are the guardians of a child have ''parental responsibilities'' and ''parenting time'' in relation to that child. People who are not the guardians of a child may have ''contact'' with the child and do not have the right to participate in making decisions about the raising of the child or the right to get information from the important people involved in the child's life, such as doctors, teachers, coaches and so on.
Under s. 40(1) of the ''Family Law Act'', only people who are the guardians of a child have ''parental responsibilities'' and ''parenting time'' in relation to that child. People who are not the guardians of a child may have ''contact'' with the child and do not have the right to participate in making decisions about the raising of the child or the right to get information from the important people involved in the child's life, such as doctors, teachers, coaches and so on.
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