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Difference between revisions of "Family Relationships"
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amending the introduction to reflect added sections
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Family law isn't just about relationships between spouses or parents. It also concerns the relationships between grandchildren and grandparents, between nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles, and between children and other adults with significant roles in their lives | Family law isn't just about relationships between spouses or parents. It also concerns the relationships between grandchildren and grandparents, between nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles, and between children and other adults with significant roles in their lives | ||
The first chapter focuses on the different kinds of family relationships recognized by the ''[[Family Law Act]]''. In this first section we take a look at the range of family relationships, and examine how the law impacts on people in these relationships. We also discuss some urban myths about married and unmarried relationships. The other sections in this chapter go into more detail about the legal rights and duties involved in [[Marriage & Married Spouses|married relationships]], [[Unmarried Spouses|unmarried spousal relationships]], and relationships involving [[Other Unmarried Relationships|unmarried people who have had a child but never lived together]]. The final section talks about the claims a child's [[Children's Caregivers and Extended Family|caregivers and extended family members]] can make. Everything in this chapter applies just as much to same sex couples as it does to opposite-sex couples. | |||
The second chapter addresses the different rights and responsibilities that different couples married and unmarried couples that have cohabited for two years or more have and owe compared to other people. We learn that there is very little difference anymore in the rights an obligations of married persons and those that have cohabited in a marriage-like relationship for two years or more. This chapter also discusses the rights of persons that live together for less than two years, which pertain to children, protection orders and spousal support if there are children born of the relationship. | |||
The third chapter addresses common misunderstandings regarding married and unmarried relationships while the fourth chapter deals with adoption and assisted reproduction. Additional links and resources are provided in the fifth chapter. | |||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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===Married spouses=== | ===Married spouses=== | ||
To be able to marry, the parties must be, among other things, unmarried, | To be able to marry, the parties must be, among other things, unmarried, sane, relatively sober, and over a certain age. They must also be married by a person properly licensed to conduct marriages, who is either a civil marriage commissioner or an authorized religious official. The process for getting married in British Columbia is described in detail in the [[Marriage & Married Spouses]] section of this chapter, which has more information about the law relating to marriage. | ||
====Living together==== | ====Living together==== | ||
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====Marriage==== | ====Marriage==== | ||
The law about marriage has changed enormously over the last three centuries; marriage once had a much more important legal significance than it does today. Before about 1890, a married couple was legally considered to be one person. A husband took ownership of all of his wife's property on marriage and could use his wife's assets as collateral for loans. His wife, on the other hand, lost the ability to hold a bank <span class="noglossary">account</span> in her own name, sell her property without her husband's consent, or start a | The law about marriage has changed enormously over the last three centuries; marriage once had a much more important legal significance than it does today. Before about 1890, a married couple was legally considered to be one person. A husband took ownership of all of his wife's property on marriage and could use his wife's assets as collateral for loans. His wife, on the other hand, lost the ability to hold a bank <span class="noglossary">account</span> in her own name, sell her property without her husband's consent, or start a law suit or run a business in her own name. In contrast, women who hadn't married could own property in their own names, have bank accounts, sue and be sued, and run a business. | ||
The institution of marriage was once of such social significance that people could be sued for attempting to interfere with a married couple's relationship. Until 1972, it was a civil offence to falsely boast that you were married to someone (called ''jactitation of marriage'') or to lure a spouse away from a married relationship (called ''criminal conversation''), and a court proceeding could be brought against someone for loss of the benefits of marriage (called ''loss of consortium''). | The institution of marriage was once of such social significance that people could be sued for attempting to interfere with a married couple's relationship. Until 1972, it was a civil offence to falsely boast that you were married to someone (called ''jactitation of marriage'') or to lure a spouse away from a married relationship (called ''criminal conversation''), and a court proceeding could be brought against someone for loss of the benefits of marriage (called ''loss of consortium''). | ||
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*have ''contact'' with a child if they happen not to be guardians, | *have ''contact'' with a child if they happen not to be guardians, | ||
*ask for or be responsible to pay ''child support'', | *ask for or be responsible to pay ''child support'', | ||
*ask for or be responsible to pay ''spousal support'' | *ask for or be responsible to pay ''spousal support'', and | ||
*apply for ''protection orders'' if they feel they are at risk of family violence. | *apply for ''protection orders'' if they feel they are at risk of family violence. | ||
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Like unmarried spouses who have lived together for less than two years, couples who are not spouses still share in property they jointly own, and they can make claims to property owned only by one spouse under the law of trusts and the law of equity. These claims are discussed in the introductory section of the [[Property_%26_Debt_in_Family_Law_Matters|Property & Debt]] chapter. | Like unmarried spouses who have lived together for less than two years, couples who are not spouses still share in property they jointly own, and they can make claims to property owned only by one spouse under the law of trusts and the law of equity. These claims are discussed in the introductory section of the [[Property_%26_Debt_in_Family_Law_Matters|Property & Debt]] chapter. | ||
Couples who are not | Couples who are not spouses, not parents, and do not live together cannot apply for protection orders under the ''[[Family Law Act]]''. | ||
===Children's caregivers and extended family=== | ===Children's caregivers and extended family=== | ||
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*ask to be appointed as the ''guardian'' of a child, and as a guardian have parental responsibilities and parenting time with respect to that child, | *ask to be appointed as the ''guardian'' of a child, and as a guardian have parental responsibilities and parenting time with respect to that child, | ||
*have ''contact'' with a child, and | *have ''contact'' with a child, and | ||
*ask for ''child support'' | *ask for ''child support''. | ||
==A few surprisingly common misunderstandings== | ==A few surprisingly common misunderstandings== | ||
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It is not true that an unmarried couple is automatically "married" once they've lived together for a certain amount of time. A unmarried couple is never legally married unless they have actually had a marriage ceremony. There is no such thing as a "common-law marriage." | It is not true that an unmarried couple is automatically "married" once they've lived together for a certain amount of time. A unmarried couple is never legally married unless they have actually had a marriage ceremony. There is no such thing as a "common-law marriage." | ||
You are not legally married unless you have a marriage ceremony and the ceremony is conducted by someone authorized by the provincial government to perform marriages | You are not legally married unless you have a marriage ceremony and the ceremony is conducted by someone authorized by the provincial government to perform marriages. Your car mechanic can marry you, if your car mechanic is a marriage commissioner, but your Wiccan high priestess cannot legally marry you unless she also happens to be a licensed marriage commissioner. | ||
Las Vegas marriages and other sorts of quickie marriages are valid and binding marriages, as long as the marriages meet the criteria for valid marriages, discussed in the next section. If you want to undo the marriage, you'll have to get divorced just like every other person in a valid marriage, and that will usually mean waiting until one year has passed since your separation. An alcohol-induced Las Vegas marriage was upheld in the very funny 2005 Supreme Court case of ''[http://canlii.ca/t/1q47l Davison v. Sweeney]'', 2005 BCSC 757, simply because the spouses knew what they were doing when they married, despite the fact that they had never had sex and separated two days after the marriage, when their respective holidays ended. | Las Vegas marriages and other sorts of quickie marriages are valid and binding marriages, as long as the marriages meet the criteria for valid marriages, discussed in the next section. If you want to undo the marriage, you'll have to get divorced just like every other person in a valid marriage, and that will usually mean waiting until one year has passed since your separation. An alcohol-induced Las Vegas marriage was upheld in the very funny 2005 Supreme Court case of ''[http://canlii.ca/t/1q47l Davison v. Sweeney]'', 2005 BCSC 757, simply because the spouses knew what they were doing when they married, despite the fact that they had never had sex and separated two days after the marriage, when their respective holidays ended. | ||