Difference between revisions of "Unmarried Spouses"

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==Introduction==
==Introduction==


The legal rights and responsibilities people in an unmarried relationship owe to each other, and the government benefits to which they might be entitled, are described in a number of different laws, and these different laws have different definitions of what it means to be a "spouse"; a couple might meet the test under one law but not the test under another.  
The legal rights and responsibilities that people in an unmarried relationship owe to each other, and the government benefits to which they might be entitled, are described in a number of different laws, and these different laws have different definitions of what it means to be a "spouse"; a couple might meet the test under one law but not the test under another.  


Although married couples are always married spouses, unmarried couples aren't always unmarried spouses. For example, the federal ''[http://canlii.ca/t/7vb7 Income Tax Act]'' defines "spouse" as including people who have cohabited for one year, while the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l7 Employment and Assistance Act]'' defines "spouse" as including people living together for three months if the welfare caseworker believes that their relationship demonstrates "financial dependence or interdependence, and social and familial interdependence."
Although married couples are always married spouses, unmarried couples aren't always unmarried spouses. For example, the federal ''[http://canlii.ca/t/7vb7 Income Tax Act]'' defines "spouse" as including people who have cohabited for one year, while the provincial ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l7 Employment and Assistance Act]'' defines "spouse" as including people living together for three months if the welfare caseworker believes that their relationship demonstrates "financial dependence or interdependence, and social and familial interdependence."


Regardless of a couple's federal or provincial status under these rules, it is not true that being an unmarried spouse or common-law partner, the expression used in a number of federal laws, means that you are legally married. Being married involves a formal ceremony and certain other legal requirements like a marriage license. Without that ceremony and that license, unmarried spouses will never be married, no matter how long they've lived together.
Regardless of a couple's federal or provincial status under these rules, it is not true that being an unmarried spouse or common-law partner, the expression used in a number of federal laws, means that you are legally married. Being married involves a formal ceremony and certain other legal requirements, like a marriage license. Without that ceremony and that license, unmarried spouses will never be married, no matter how long they've lived together.


===Provincial legislation===
===Provincial legislation===

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