Spousal Support for Common Law Partners in BC Explained

A common law partner can claim spousal support in British Columbia. Part 7 of the Family Law Act applies to anyone who is a spouse under the Act, including partners who lived together in a marriage-like relationship for a continuous two years, and partners with a child together sooner.

The Divorce Act is not available to unmarried couples, so the entire claim runs through the provincial statute, on a deadline that married spouses do not face in the same way. SiLaw Group Family Lawyers handles these claims from both sides, and this post sets out who qualifies, what the court weighs, and how the common law case differs. For the service itself, see our spousal support page, and for the wider picture, our common law relationships page.

Who Qualifies for Spousal Support as a Common Law Partner?

Spousal status is the gate. Under section 3(1)(b) of the Family Law Act, a person who has lived with another person in a marriage-like relationship is a spouse if they have done so for a continuous period of at least two years, or, except for the property and pension division parts of the Act, if they have a child with the other person. Spousal support sits in Part 7, which is not one of the excluded parts. A couple with a child together can therefore face a spousal support claim before the two-year mark. Our two-year rule page explains the threshold, and our spousal support entitlement page explains the next step.

Status alone does not mean support is payable. Section 160 of the Family Law Act says that if, after considering the objectives in section 161, a spouse is entitled to spousal support, the other spouse has a duty to provide it in accordance with section 162. Entitlement is a real question in every file, and in short relationships it is often the whole question.

What Objectives Does the Court Consider?

Section 161 of the Family Law Act sets out four objectives that the parties to an agreement, or the court, must consider in determining entitlement:

• to recognize any economic advantages or disadvantages to the spouses arising from the relationship or its breakdown,
• to apportion between the spouses any financial consequences arising from the care of their child, beyond the duty to provide support for the child,
• to relieve any economic hardship of the spouses arising from the breakdown of the relationship, and
• as far as practicable, to promote the economic self-sufficiency of each spouse within a reasonable period of time.

A partner who left the workforce to raise children, moved cities for the other's career, or supported the other through training has an argument under the first two objectives. A partner who kept an independent career through a shorter relationship often does not.

How Are Amount and Duration Decided?

Section 162 of the Family Law Act requires the amount and duration of spousal support, if any, to be determined on consideration of the conditions, means, needs and other circumstances of each spouse, including the length of time the spouses lived together, the functions performed by each spouse during that period, and any agreement or order relating to the support of either spouse. Length of cohabitation is the factor that distinguishes common law files most sharply. Two years is the minimum for status, and a two-year relationship is at the short end of what the objectives contemplate.

In practice lawyers and courts also consult the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, which are advisory and informal, not legislated. The ranges they produce depend heavily on the length of cohabitation and on whether there are children, and entitlement is a threshold the ranges do not replace. Our SSAG amount and duration page explains how the formulas work, and our spousal support estimator page explains why an instant number from a web form would mislead.

Section 166 of the Family Law Act adds that the court must not consider a spouse's misconduct, except conduct that arbitrarily or unreasonably causes, prolongs or aggravates the need for support or affects the ability to pay it. Who ended the relationship, and why, is not the point.