Does a Common-Law Partner Inherit If Their Partner Dies Without a Will in Alberta?

This answer covers the law of Alberta.

Often yes, as long as your partner qualifies as an adult interdependent partner. You qualify by living together in a relationship of interdependence for a continuous period of at least 3 years, by having a child together in a relationship of some permanence, or by signing an adult interdependent partner agreement.

Without a will, the surviving partner gets the entire estate if the deceased had no descendants or if every descendant is also the partner's. If the deceased had descendants who are not the partner's, the partner gets the greater of $150 000 or 50% of the net value of the intestate estate, and the residue goes to the deceased's descendants. If there is both a surviving spouse and a surviving partner, they split the estate, or the partner's share, half and half.

Partner status ends under the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act, not under the separation rule that applies to spouses. If there is no qualifying spouse or partner, the estate goes to descendants, then parents, then more distant relatives. A former partner's gift in an earlier will is revoked unless the will shows otherwise, or they were the spouse at death or a blood or adoptive relative. A lawyer can confirm how this applies to you.