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  • Living Together during separation-Common Law question

    I was wondering when the common law 1 yr cohabitation begins if a person is separated not divorced. If a couple starts living together during the separation of their respective marriages but before divorce, does the clock start immediately upon moving in together or only when the divorces are final does the 1 yr to cohabitation begin? We reside in Ontario.

    Thanks

  • #2
    I believe the clock starts ticking right away.

    I think in theory you can have both a common law spouse and a separated spouse at the same time. I would imagine it can get pretty complicated if that person ups and dies with 2 spouses

    Maybe someone else has more infomation on this.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Jenny
      I believe the clock starts ticking right away.

      I think in theory you can have both a common law spouse and a separated spouse at the same time. I would imagine it can get pretty complicated if that person ups and dies with 2 spouses

      Maybe someone else has more infomation on this.
      See if that were the case (which I thought as well) wouldn't it be bigamy should the one year happen to make it a common law marriage and you still are not divorced from your other spouse? This is where we thought perhaps it could be the clock can't start ticking until the divorces are final. Hmmmmm lol

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      • #4
        But there are cases where some people never get around to actually divorcing- someone on here was finally doing it 22 years later! The common law protections would have to come into affect at some point. I'm sure it happens all the time. The thing is one is common law and one is a "normal" marriage so it wouldn't be considered bigamy as far I would know.

        Just my uneducated guess about this. Again others might have more accurate information about this - interesting discussion though eh? I imagine it makes life interesting for family law lawyers ;-)

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        • #5
          Hi there,

          Firstly, you would only reach the common law status after 3 years of living together in a continous relationship.

          The clock would start ticking right away. I agree with Jenny. There are quite a few people who never get around to divorcing their first wife or husband, yet maintain a long-term relationship with a common law partner.

          Being married and in a common law relationship wouldn't really be considered polygamy, since you must actually be married to both spouses. (Polygamy = being married to two people at once, whereas bigamy = being married to two people at once, and the two wifes or two husbands do not know about each other).

          Lindsay

          Comment

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