What an Adult Interdependent Partner Inherits Without a Will in Alberta

If your partner died without a will and you were not married, your right to inherit may depend on whether you were an adult interdependent partner. Alberta law gives that status real weight, and it is often the deciding point.

This article explains what a partner receives, how that compares with a spouse, and what proof of the relationship usually matters.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

What you receive compared with a spouse

The Wills and Succession Act gives a surviving adult interdependent partner the same intestacy entitlements as a surviving spouse, so the rules in sections 60 to 64 apply to both together. In practice that means the following.

• No descendants: the whole intestate estate goes to the partner.
• Descendants who are all also the partner's descendants: the partner takes the entire intestate estate.
• Some descendants are not the partner's, such as a child from another relationship: the partner takes the greater of $150 000 or 50% of the net value of the estate, and the rest goes to the descendants.

For example, on a net estate of $400,000 with one child from a prior relationship, the partner would receive $200,000 and the child $200,000. On a $200,000 net estate, the partner would receive $150,000 and the child $50,000. Net value is worked out after debts, charges, and funeral and administration expenses.

Who is an adult interdependent partner

The Wills and Succession Act uses the meaning from the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act. Under that Act, a relationship of interdependence is a relationship outside marriage in which two people share one another's lives, are emotionally committed to one another, and function as an economic and domestic unit.

There are three routes to partner status.

• Living together in a relationship of interdependence for a continuous period of not less than 3 years.
• Living together in a relationship of interdependence of some permanence where there is a child of the relationship by birth or adoption, with no three-year minimum.
• Entering into an adult interdependent partner agreement under section 7, with no minimum period of living together.

Proving the relationship

If the relationship is disputed in court proceedings, the person claiming to be an adult interdependent partner has the onus of proving it. Because living together alone is not the test, evidence about how you shared your lives usually matters more than a shared address.

• Any signed adult interdependent partner agreement.
• Proof of how long you lived together without a break, such as leases, mail and tax records.
• Evidence of shared finances, such as joint accounts, shared bills and who paid for household costs.
• Birth or adoption records for any child of the relationship.
• Statements from people who knew you as a couple.

What a court will accept depends on the facts, so a lawyer can tell you what evidence is likely to be needed in your situation.

When partner status does not apply

Several rules can defeat or end partner status.

• Paid care: no relationship of interdependence exists where one person provides the other domestic support and personal care for a fee or other consideration.
• More than one partner: a person cannot have more than one adult interdependent partner at one time, and a married person cannot become one while living with his or her spouse.
• Relatives: people related by blood or adoption can become partners only in the limited ways the Act allows, for example by agreement.
• Ended partnership: a partner becomes a former partner on the earliest of a written agreement to live separate and apart, living separate and apart for more than one year with intent that the relationship not continue, marriage, or a declaration of irreconcilability, among other events.
• Reconciliation: one resumption of living together of not more than 90 days, mainly to reconcile, does not interrupt a separation.

If the deceased left both a spouse and an adult interdependent partner, the estate is divided between them. A person who takes a share as a partner cannot also take a second share in another capacity.

What to do next

To deal with the estate, someone needs a grant from the Court, and in an intestacy the surviving spouse or adult interdependent partner ranks first among those who may apply. If more than one person ranks equally under that first category, preference goes to the one who lived with the deceased immediately or most recently before death.

Start gathering your proof now, before memories fade and records are lost, and speak with a lawyer if anyone questions your status or if the deceased had children from another relationship.

Frequently asked questions