Who Pays Debts After a Common-Law Breakup in Ontario?

Splitting up is stressful enough without worrying that you will be left paying for your former partner's spending. The answer depends mostly on whose name is on each debt and what you agreed to when you signed.

This article explains how common debts are treated, why Ontario's property rules for married spouses do not help common-law couples, and the steps to protect yourself after separation.

There is no automatic sharing for common-law couples

Ontario does not divide property between common-law couples when they separate. Each partner keeps the property they bought, and neither has a right to share the other's increase in property value. The same approach applies to furniture, household items and other property, which belong to the person who bought them.

No Ontario statute makes a common-law partner liable for the other's sole debts. Responsibility generally comes from the credit contract, such as being a co-borrower or a guarantor. Living together does not by itself make you responsible for a debt in your partner's name.

Common types of shared debt

Check which role you hold on each account. Many people are surprised to learn they are co-borrowers rather than additional cardholders.

Practical risks after separation

If you share a joint credit card as co-borrowers, you can each use the account and you are equally responsible for the balance. Someone who is only an additional cardholder is not responsible for repaying money owing on the account. How this applies after separation, and how it affects money in shared bank accounts, depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

• Ask the lender about freezing or closing joint credit accounts, or changing them so one person is responsible.
• Move your own pay and savings to an account in your name only.
• Ask a lawyer how any agreement between you affects shared debts.
• Keep records of who spent what and who paid what after separation.

Agreements, contributions and support

Two unmarried people who are cohabiting, or intend to, may make a cohabitation agreement about their rights and obligations, including property and support. It is unenforceable unless it is in writing, signed by the parties and witnessed. Ontario's guidance advises that each partner speak to a different lawyer and exchange financial information before signing.

A court may set aside a domestic contract, or a provision in it, if a party failed to disclose significant assets, debts or other liabilities that existed when it was made.

There are two other points. A partner who contributed to property the other owns may have a right to part of it, and unless the owner agrees to pay the contribution back, the partner may have to go to court. Separately, support is its own question. For support, unmarried partners who have cohabited continuously for not less than three years are spouses. Unmarried partners are also spouses for support, however long they lived together, if they cohabited in a relationship of some permanence and are the parents of a child as set out in s. 4 of the Children's Law Reform Act. Every spouse must support themselves and the other spouse according to need, to the extent they are able.

What to do next

• List every debt, noting whose name is on it and whether you are a co-borrower, guarantor or additional cardholder.
• Get recent statements for all joint accounts, loans and credit cards.
• Contact lenders about closing, freezing or refinancing joint debts.
• Find any cohabitation agreement and read what it says about debts and property.
• Speak with a lawyer if you signed as a guarantor, contributed to property your partner owns, or are unsure whether a support claim applies.

Frequently asked questions