Ontario gives unmarried partners no right to equalization. What is in your name is yours; what is in theirs is theirs. Support is a separate question, and so is any claim built on what you actually contributed. Here is what survives a common-law separation.
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Equalization of net family property is for married spouses only. Nothing in the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90f03">Family Law Act</a> gives an unmarried partner a share of the other's assets on separation, however long you lived together and whatever you called each other. You each leave with what you own, plus your share of anything held jointly.
That means the house in one name goes with that name. So do the vehicle, the RRSP, the pension, the business and the savings account. Joint accounts and jointly titled property are divided according to how they are held. Debt works the same way — a loan in one name stays there, whatever it was spent on.
The matrimonial home rules do not apply either, and this catches people badly. There is no automatic right to stay in a home you do not own, no requirement that your partner get your consent before selling or mortgaging it, and no possession order available simply because you lived there as a family. Read <a href="/matrimonial-home-lawyer-ontario">how the matrimonial home is treated</a> to see what married spouses get that you do not.
None of this means you leave with nothing. It means the claim has to be built and proved rather than assumed, which is a slower kind of case. Do not sign a quit claim, take your name off an account, or move out on the strength of being told you have no rights. Get the position assessed before you give anything up, because unwinding it afterwards is far harder.
The first route is a resulting trust: you paid toward property registered in your partner's name, without intending a gift, so a share is held for you. It works cleanly for direct financial contributions you can document — a down payment, mortgage payments, the cost of a renovation — and poorly for everything else. Rent paid to a partner and general household spending rarely get you there, because that money was consumed rather than turned into an asset.
The second and more common route is unjust enrichment. You show that your partner was enriched, that you suffered a corresponding deprivation, and that there is no legal reason for them to keep the benefit. Years of unpaid work in a partner's business, or care of children and a household that let the other build a career, are the usual facts.
Where the two of you effectively ran a joint family venture — pooled effort, integrated finances, mutual intent, a shared economic life — the remedy can be a proportionate share of the wealth accumulated, rather than a fee for the hours you put in. That is a far better outcome, and it depends heavily on evidence about how you actually lived.
These are litigated claims with real burdens of proof, won on documents rather than on how the relationship felt. Bank records, e-transfers, renovation invoices, texts about money and dated photographs of work you did all matter. So does the date you stopped living together, because the clock on most claims starts there. Gather the paperwork while you still have access to shared accounts and email.
Spousal support is where unmarried partners are treated much like married ones. Under the Family Law Act you qualify as a spouse for support if you cohabited continuously for at least three years, or if you are in a relationship of some permanence and are the parents of a child together. Once you qualify, entitlement, amount and duration are assessed on the same principles.
There is no limitation period for a spousal support claim under the Family Law Act — section 16 of the Limitations Act, 2002 exempts support proceedings from the usual clock — but delay still hurts, because a long gap between separation and a claim undercuts the case for ongoing entitlement. Do not treat a verbal promise of ongoing payments as a substitute for an agreement or an application. Child support is likewise not time-barred and is owed regardless of whether the parents ever married or lived together.
Canada Pension Plan credits earned during the relationship can be divided between common-law partners, but the application is subject to a time limit running from separation. Employment pensions are not divisible the way a married spouse's would be. Check the beneficiary designations on registered accounts and life insurance immediately — separating does not change them, and an ex-partner named years ago stays named until you file a new one.
On death the gap is widest. Under the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90s26">Succession Law Reform Act</a> a common-law partner does not inherit on an intestacy. If your partner dies without a will, their estate passes to their children or their parents and siblings, not to you. A dependant's support claim may be available, but it is a court application, not an inheritance.
No. Ontario has no equalization for unmarried partners, and no presumption that anything is shared. You each keep what you own and divide what is jointly held. A share of a partner's property has to be claimed through a resulting trust or unjust enrichment, and proved with evidence of what you contributed.
It depends on what for. Three years of continuous cohabitation, or a relationship of some permanence with a child, makes you a spouse for Family Law Act support. Income tax, federal benefits, pensions and immigration each use their own definitions and shorter periods. There is no single common-law threshold in Ontario.
Not as of right. The matrimonial home protections apply only to married spouses, so there is no equal right of possession and no need for your consent to a sale or mortgage. You can seek an injunction in some circumstances, and a trust claim over the property, but get advice quickly rather than assume you can stay.
No. On an intestacy the Succession Law Reform Act passes the estate to children, or to parents and siblings, and a common-law partner takes nothing. You may be able to bring a dependant's support claim against the estate, but that is litigation with a deadline. A will, jointly held property and beneficiary designations are the reliable fixes.
Yes, and it is the cheapest document in family law. It settles property, debt and support in advance, so nobody has to prove a trust claim years later. It needs full financial disclosure from both of you, signatures witnessed, and independent legal advice for the other party — those are what keep it standing up.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.