confused about common law

[angelastewart]

im having no luck with government sites trying to get an answer to this question any advice or link suggestions will be greatly appreciated!! so im having a baby in late august
my partner and i have been living together for 8 months or so
i know that in ontario if you have a child in common and reside together you are common law
the issue i have is my partner has been seperated for about 2 years now and we cannot afford to finalize things with a divorce till sometime next year
also shes been living out of the country for some time if that make a difference
so when our baby is born how am i to fill out his registration and other government forms?
am i to be considered single until the time of his divorce? or will we be considered common law?
please help!
thanks everyone!

[dinkyface]

I'd put yourself down as common-law. Unless it has to do with money (e.g. CRA) or legal rights (BTW, your marital status is irrelevant to your child's rights), I can't really see that the gov't will be too concerned about this.

Just my guess, though.

[angelastewart]

thx for the reply

the one area im really concerned about is applying for the canada child tax benefit as single or common law i sure dont want to to the wrong thing and be responsible for overpayment!!

[NBDad]

Taken from:

Marital status

Common-law partner

A common-law partner applies to a person who is not your spouse (see above), with whom you are living in a conjugal relationship, and to whom at least one of the following situations applies. He or she:


a) has been living with you in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 continuous months;


b) is the parent of your child by birth or adoption; or


c) has custody and control of your child (or had custody and control immediately before the child turned 19 years of age) and your child is wholly dependent on that person for support.


That being said, in your situation you can go either way with it. Go run the numbers on the CRA Calculator and see which way results in more money.

[dinkyface]

For the CCTB, just follow the instruction on the application form. It never asks for your new partner's marital status, just yours (common law).
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/rc66/rc66-10e.pdf.

[NBDad]

If you file common law, it affects the household income and the resulting amount you are eligible for.

[dadtotheend]

You two will be common-law when the baby comes. That's actually a federal rule as it relates to Child Tax Benefit and related Income Tax Act benefits.

For family law purposes you may have to be together for three years, I think to be common law.

The only thing that is affected by his not being divorced is his legal ability to marry.

[KeepSmiling]

Once the baby is born - you and your baby's father are common law spouses. CRA recognizes bigotry and is completely OK with it.

[Mess]

Once the baby is born - you and your baby's father are common law spouses. CRA recognizes bigotry and is completely OK with it.

Archie Bunker will be glad to hear that!

[KeepSmiling]

hahahahahahahaha - I just realized what I wrote!!!!! OMG I shouldn't go out on Thursday nights! I thought maybe I should edit it, but it's just way too funny! I hope others have a smile at my big goof. Very humbling. I hope we all know what I meant and if you don't, tune in to Archie.