Cohabitation Agreements in BC

Write Your Own Rules Before the Act Writes Them for You

Live together in a marriage-like relationship for a continuous two years and British Columbia's Family Law Act makes you spouses, with a full property and debt regime attached. A cohabitation agreement is the tool for couples who would rather decide those terms themselves. Section 92 of the Act expressly permits spouses to make agreements about the division of property and debt, despite the Act's default rules, including agreements that divide property equally or unequally, treat specific items as in or out of the family property pot, or value property differently than the Act otherwise would.

Couples sign these before moving in, in the early stretch of living together, or when something changes, like buying a home or starting a business. If you are not sure your relationship is the kind the Act captures, our reader guide, are we in a common-law relationship in British Columbia?, is the place to start.

SiLaw Group Family Lawyers is a boutique family law and mediation firm in South Surrey. We practise family law only, in English and Punjabi, and agreements are the planning side of our common-law work.

What Couples Typically Address

• The home. Whether it was owned by one of you before or bought together, the agreement can say who keeps it and how growth in its value is handled.
• What each of you brought in. The Act already excludes pre-relationship property, but the growth in its value during the relationship is shared by default, and the person claiming an exclusion must demonstrate it. An agreement, paired with a simple schedule of assets kept alongside it, does that record-keeping in advance. Our excluded property guide explains why those records decide cases.
• Debts. What each of you owes now, and how borrowing during the relationship will be treated.
• Businesses and professional practices. Often the asset owners most want ring-fenced, and the one hardest to value later.
• Support expectations. What support, if any, either of you would seek if the relationship ends.
• Process. Some couples agree in advance to try mediation before anyone starts a court file.

Every relationship carries its own layer of family, culture, and history. As one example, we have written separately about Maher in Islamic marriage contracts in British Columbia for couples whose plans include one.

Why Timing Matters

Rights attach at the two-year line, but the measuring often starts earlier. Under the Act, the relationship between spouses begins on the earlier of the date they began living together in a marriage-like relationship and the date of marriage, so value-sharing math can reach back to the day the boxes arrived. Terms are also simply easier to set before positions harden. An agreement made while the relationship is good is a planning document. The same conversation after separation is a negotiation between opponents, on a deadline, at several times the cost.

Built to Hold Up

Section 93 of the Act is the setting-aside framework for property agreements, and we draft against it deliberately. It applies to written agreements with each signature witnessed, one witness can serve for both, and a court may apply the section to an unwitnessed written agreement where appropriate. A court may set an agreement aside where, at the time it was made, a spouse failed to disclose significant property or debts or other relevant information, took improper advantage of the other's vulnerability, including ignorance, need or distress, or did not understand the nature or consequences of the agreement, or on grounds that would make a contract voidable at common law. There is a second route as well: a court may act where an agreement has become significantly unfair, considering the time that has passed, the spouses' intention to achieve certainty, and their reliance on its terms.

No lawyer can promise an agreement will never be challenged. What careful practice does is close the easy attack routes. Ours looks like this: full financial disclosure exchanged and recorded before signing, independent legal advice for each party, time to consider rather than a signature under pressure, and drafting plain enough that both people genuinely understand what they signed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Cohabitation Agreement Legally Binding in BC?

Written agreements about property and debt are expressly contemplated by the Family Law Act, and a court's power to set one aside runs through the section 93 framework, which turns largely on disclosure, fairness of process, and understanding at the time of signing. An agreement built with full disclosure and independent advice is in the strongest position that framework allows.

When Should We Sign a Cohabitation Agreement?

The better moments are before you move in together, before the two-year line, or before a major joint purchase. Earlier is calmer and cheaper. That said, couples already deep into cohabitation make these agreements too, and updating one after a big change, such as a home purchase or a new business, is normal.

Do We Each Need Our Own Lawyer?

Our practice is that each party gets independent legal advice before signing. The setting-aside grounds in the Act are about vulnerability and about understanding the nature and consequences of the agreement, and independent advice for both sides is the cleanest answer to each. It protects the agreement as much as it protects the people signing it.

Talk to a Cohabitation Agreement Lawyer for Free

If you are moving in together, approaching two years, or simply want certainty, the first 30 minutes with SiLaw Group are free, in English or Punjabi, by phone, video, or in person at Suite 201, 3108 Croydon Drive in South Surrey. Agreements are among the more predictable pieces of family law work to price, and you can read how we bill on our pricing and fees page. Call (778) 381-9977 or Book Now for a Free Consultation.

This page is legal information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, speak with a lawyer.