我来贴点专业的:
Section 248 of the
Income Tax Act defines a taxpayer’s “common-law partner” as follows:
“common-law partner”, …, means a person who cohabits at that time in a conjugal relationship with the taxpayer and
- has so cohabited throughout the 12-month period that ends at that time, or
- would be the parent of a child of whom the taxpayer is a parent, if this Act were read without reference to paragraphs 252(1)(c) and (e) of subparagraph 252(2)(a)(iii)
- and, for the purposes of this definition, where at any time the taxpayer and the person cohabit in a conjugal relationship, they are, at any particular time after that time, deemed to be cohabiting in a conjugal relationship unless they were living separate and apart at the particular time for a period of at least 90 days that includes the particular time because of a breakdown of their conjugal relationship.
如果你住在Alberta,
A common-law partner (including an
adult interdependent partner or AIP)
does not have rights under the
Act. However, a common-law partner may instead be able to pursue
alternate claims to property.
Even where common-law partners do not have a statutory right to a division of family property under the relevant provincial or territorial legislation, they may be entitled to seek other remedies, such as
unjust enrichment,
quantum meruit,
resulting trust, and/or
constructive trust.
However, keep in mind that where there is no
statutory right to a division of family property, non-owning common-law partners could be more vulnerable in the event of relationship breakdown, and the legal costs to pursue alternate claims to property could be higher. Clients who are in common-law relationships should be strongly encouraged to speak to a family lawyer in order to understand their rights and obligations, and if recommended, to enter into a
cohabitation agreement to clarify their understanding.
Unjust enrichment
A common-law partner may be able to make a claim under the doctrine of unjust enrichment, which requires 3 conditions to be satisfied:
- There must be a benefit or enrichment of one party;
- There must be a corresponding deprivation of the other party; and
- There must be an absence of legal justification for the enrichment, such as a contract or gift.
In addition, there must usually exist a substantial connection between the contribution made by one common-law partner and the property acquired or preserved by the other common-law partner. An indirect contribution of money will usually suffice, such as where one common-law partner pays the household expenses and the other common-law partner contributes labour.
Quantum meruit
A common-law partner may be able to make a claim under the doctrine of "quantum meruit", which basically is a claim for "services", which could be in the form of household labour.
Resulting trust
A common-law partner may be able to make a claim under the doctrine of resulting trust if he or she had transferred property under circumstances that implied that the recipient was not to hold a beneficial interest in the property (e.g. where the recipient did not offer consideration and a gift was not intended by the transferor).
Constructive trust
A common-law partner may be able to make a claim under the doctrine of constructive trusts. For example, if an individual made mortgage payments or other contributions to property which is held in the name of his or her common-law partner, the individual could argue that the funds are being held in a constructive trust, and thereby attempt to recover the funds.
Constructive trust, joint ventures and unjust enrichment
A 2011 Supreme Court decision,
Kerr v Baranow
, added another component to constructive trust claims made by common-law spouses. In the case of common-law couples engaged in “joint ventures”, such as a family business, a court may award a significant amount if one member of the couple appeared to use the joint venture to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of their partner.
Factors considered in evaluating this sort of unjust enrichment claim in the context of a joint venture include but are not necessarily limited to:
- Whether the couple made mutual efforts;
- Worked collaboratively towards common goals;
- The extent of the integration of their financial affairs;
- Their actual intentions to share (or not to share); and
- The priority they gave to the family in making their decisions.
The award will reflect the imbalance in the money received from the joint venture, calculated on the basis of the contributions made by the respective parties. This applies to marriage-like relationships, but can also apply when one domestic partner dies and fails to make provisions for their survivor. In this case, the survivor could bring a claim of unjust enrichment against the personal representative of the deceased’s estate. There has also been speculation that this could apply to relationships other than those that are marriage-like, if the characteristics of a joint family venture are found, such as in the case of siblings, parents and children that integrate their financial affairs for mutual profit.