Common-Law Separation in Ontario: What to Do First

When a common-law relationship ends, everything can feel urgent at once: where you will live, who pays what, and how the children are cared for. It helps to work in an order, starting with the things that are hardest to undo.

This article gives a practical sequence for Ontario. It explains the general rules that affect each step, but the right choices depend on your facts, so it is worth speaking to a lawyer early, especially if you own a home together or have children.

Step 1: Sort out where each of you will live

Married spouses have special protections over the family home. Those do not cover unmarried partners, because the matrimonial home rules use the married meaning of spouse. For you, housing usually turns on who owns the home or who is on the lease.

If you own together, how title is held matters. Joint tenancy is co-ownership with a right of survivorship, while a tenancy in common has no right of survivorship. A mortgage registered by only one joint owner does not automatically end the joint tenancy. Do not sign or register anything about the property until you understand its effect.

If safety is a concern, put that first and get help before dealing with any of the steps below.

Step 2: Protect your money and sort out debts

Look at what you share. Joint bank account holders share responsibility for all transactions, and an overdraft may create a debt for everyone on the account. Co-borrowers on a joint credit card are equally responsible for the balance, while an additional cardholder is not responsible for repaying what is owing.

• List every joint account, credit card, loan and line of credit.
• Get statements for the past year.
• Talk to your bank about options for joint accounts before moving money.
• Do not assume you are liable, or safe, for a debt without checking whose name is on the contract.

On property, Ontario does not divide property between common-law couples; each partner keeps what they bought. Furniture and household items belong to the person who bought them. A partner who contributed to property the other owns may have a right to part of it, but may have to go to court if the owner will not agree to pay the contribution back.

Step 3: Put the children first

Every parent must support their child to the extent they are able, whether or not the parents were ever married. This applies to common-law parents in the same way.

If you have a cohabitation agreement, read it carefully. Such an agreement cannot deal with decision-making responsibility or parenting time. A court may also disregard a contract provision on a child's education, moral training, decision-making responsibility or parenting time if that is in the child's best interests, and may disregard a child support provision that is unreasonable under the child support guidelines.

Keeping arrangements calm and child-focused, and written down where you agree, usually helps.

Step 4: Think about spousal support and taxes

A common-law partner may be a spouse for support if they cohabited continuously for not less than three years, or lived together in a relationship of some permanence and are parents of a child. Spouses must support each other according to need, to the extent they are able. The length of time you lived together is one factor in setting an amount.

For tax and benefits, separation must last at least 90 days, and the separated status then takes effect from the day you started living apart; CRA says to wait at least 90 days before reporting it. You must tell the CRA about a new marital status by the end of the month after the change, using its digital services or Form RC65, Marital Status Change, and the CRA will recalculate your benefits and credits.

If you receive ODSP, a spouse is part of your benefit unit and the couple's combined income is used, so a change in living arrangements is worth reporting correctly and asking about.

What to do next

• Gather your cohabitation agreement, if any, plus leases, deeds, mortgage papers and account statements.
• Write down the dates you began living together and the date you separated.
• Make a list of what you own, what you owe and who is on each account.
• Avoid selling, transferring or borrowing against shared property until you have advice.
• Check that your will and beneficiary designations still say what you want.
• Speak to a lawyer about support, property contributions and parenting arrangements.

If you have a cohabitation agreement, a court can still set aside a domestic contract or provision for reasons such as failure to disclose significant assets or debts, and can set aside a support waiver in some circumstances, such as unconscionable circumstances.

Frequently asked questions