Common Law Seperation

[Disgruntled]

I'm looking for information as to where I stand. I live in Alberta, Canada, and m my CL husband and I have been together for almost 15 years, the first five years we had our own places, but spent our time together at one or the other’s residence. We bought a place together in 1997 and accumulated various since. I had two children when he asked me to live with him. He was like a father to my daughter from day one, but never took to my son. There were numerous altercations over the years, all to do with my son. To make a very long story short, my son is now 17 and all hell has broken lose. It’s got to the point where my CL husband wants to kick my son out of the house, as he does not agree with my decisions regarding my son. My CL husband has stated that he wants to sell our place and go our own ways. I need to know what exactly I am entitled to after we have been together all this time. We have split the bills 50/50 from the day we moved in together. Can anyone offer any advice?

 

[Lindsay]

Hi Disgruntled,

Sorry to hear about your situation.

Generally, in Alberta, much like in Ontario, you do not have an automatic interest in the home. Unfortunately, if the house is only in your CL partner's name, he can deny you entry at any time and sell the home without your consent. There are some exceptions, however. Alberta likely has some sort of process where you may argue that you have unjustly enriched your CL spouse by making financial and other contributions to the home and as a result you should be entitled to an interest in the home.

I believe a court would consider your CL spouse as having stood in loco parentis for your daughter and as such he would be obligated to pay child support for her. I doubt you would succeed in getting support for your son, however, since a strong relationship between him and your spouse was never established.

So, in short, talk to a lawyer immediately. Here is a site on common law separation in Alberta. You may find it helpful.

Lindsay