How Does a Common-Law Relationship Legally End in Alberta?
This answer covers the law of Alberta.
You do not need a divorce or a court filing to end a common-law relationship in Alberta. Under the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act (AIRA), partner status ends at the earliest of four events. These are a written agreement to live separate and apart with no possibility of reconciliation, more than one year living apart with one or both intending the relationship not to continue, marrying each other or one marrying someone else, or a declaration of irreconcilability under the Family Law Act.
If you qualified as partners through time together or a child, the relationship also ends when one of you signs a partner agreement with someone else. A single reconciliation period of no more than 90 days, with reconciliation as its main purpose, does not interrupt a separation. A partner agreement itself expires once you become former partners.
The end date matters, but the 2-year Family Property Act deadline runs from when you first knew, or ought to have known, you were former partners, and is shorter for some transfer or gift claims. Gifts to an ex-partner in an earlier will are treated as revoked unless the will shows a contrary intention, with some exceptions. A lawyer can help you confirm your date.
Key takeaways
- No divorce or court filing is needed to end an adult interdependent relationship.
- Partner status ends at the earliest of a written agreement to live separate and apart without possibility of reconciliation, more than one year apart with intent to end it, marriage, or a declaration of irreconcilability.
- A single reconciliation attempt of no more than 90 days, with reconciliation as its main purpose, does not interrupt a separation.
- The 2-year property deadline runs from when you first knew, or ought to have known, you had become former partners, and gifts to an ex-partner in an earlier will are treated as revoked unless the will shows a contrary intention or an exception applies.