Splitting Property After a Common-Law Breakup in Saskatchewan

When a common-law relationship ends, the practical questions come fast: who keeps the house, what happens to the savings, and who is responsible for the debts. In Saskatchewan, the main law is The Family Property Act.

This article explains the starting rules, the exemptions, and the points that depend on the facts, such as pensions and deadlines. It does not replace advice about your own situation.

This article covers the law of Saskatchewan.

Who the Act covers

Under The Family Property Act, the word "spouse" includes an unmarried person who is cohabiting or has cohabited with another as spouses continuously for not less than two years. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in Anderson v. Anderson, 2023 SCC 13, that the Act applies to married spouses and to unmarried spouses who cohabited continuously for two years or more.

If you lived together for less than that, the Act's approach may not apply to you, and other legal claims may be considered instead. A lawyer can tell you what is available.

The starting point: equal division

Family property is distributed equally between spouses unless the court finds that an equal distribution would be unfair and inequitable. In deciding that, the court considers factors that include any written agreement between the spouses and how long they cohabited.

This means the starting point is not "who earned more" or "whose name is on the account". The factors a court looks at include any written agreement and how long you cohabited, so the full picture depends on your facts. The starting point is equal division of family property, with room to depart from it only where equal division would be unfair and inequitable. Because the details can turn on the facts, get advice before assuming that title helps or hurts you.

The family home and exempt property

The family home is treated more strictly. Equal distribution applies unless the court is satisfied it would be unfair and inequitable, having regard only to an extraordinary circumstance, or unless the spouse with the children would otherwise be treated unfairly. The Court of Appeal in Phillips v. Phillips held that this threshold is more onerous than for other family property.

Some property is exempt from distribution. The exemptions cover property owned before the relationship, gifts from third parties and inheritances. They expressly do not cover the family home and household goods. A court can override an exemption where exempting the property would be unfair and inequitable. For unmarried partners, property acquired more than 24 months after cohabitation ended is also exempt.

Savings, debts and pensions

Whether a particular asset is divided or exempt depends on its history, for example whether it was owned before the relationship, received as a gift from a third party, or inherited, and the exemptions expressly do not cover the family home and household goods. Keep records showing when you acquired each asset and how it was paid for.

Debts, pensions, and the time limit for starting a property claim are important points where the rules should be checked against the current Act with a lawyer. Do not assume that a debt in one name stays only with that person, or that a pension is out of reach. Get advice early, because delay can affect your options.

What to do next

• Write down when you started and stopped living together as spouses.
• List major assets and debts, with dates and how each was acquired.
• Gather statements for accounts, mortgages, pensions and loans.
• Separate gifts, inheritances and pre-relationship property in your list.
• Look for any written agreement between you and your partner.
• Ask a lawyer about deadlines before too much time passes.

If interpersonal violence has occurred and the situation is urgent enough that it should not wait for a judge, a designated justice of the peace can grant an emergency intervention order without notice, which can give the victim exclusive occupation of the residence regardless of ownership. Safety comes before property questions.

Frequently asked questions