Common Law Partners and Property division

In Ontario, common law partners do not have legislative rights to a division of property upon separation.

This does not mean that common law partners have no property rights in the event of the breakdown of their relationship.

There is the option to claim unjust enrichment, and in some cases a resulting trust claim can be made.

Unjust enrichment occurs when one party gains a valuable advantage from another without legal reason. The three requirements for a finding of unjust enrichment are:

1. One spouse has been enriched;
2. There is a corresponding deprivation to the other spouse; and
3. There is no legal reason for the enrichment.

Unjust enrichment cases

Family Law Support in Ontario

Watch a youtube clip from Sept 23, 2009 of MPP Ontario Yasir Naqvi ask the attorney General about the Province's Legal aid plan - regarding family law Click here for the Clip.


In my slightly biased opinion, legal aid is not only underfunded, but the inactivity of the Provincial government to innovate the way legal aid, advice, information and representation is delivered to not only our less wealthy litigants, but the middle class too, has created a lot of inequity in the family law process.

If we look at what British Columbia has done within the past year, setting up Family Law assistance to the public through centers run by the Legal Services Society it is clear that family law litigants in that Province have a much easier path to information, advice, and aid than their Ontario counterparts. In fact, the Law Help Ontario centers in every courthouse in Ontario often do not provide assistance with family law related matters.

Here in Ontario private business like mine has had to fill the gaps. With the tightness of the Provincial budget what it is, this is unlikely to change. People will have to rely on a certain amount of goodwill from lawyers and legal professionals to get some discounted legal advice, until the underpinning structure of the legal system regarding family law and legal assistance to litigants is innovated.

November Family Law Support Team Notes

Hey,

Here are some random thoughts and notes about the Family Law Support Team as we head into another month.

It is interesting to point out that the divorce rate for people who have been remarried is higher than the rate for first marriages. In part this can be attributed to the fact that the fear of the unknown no longer exists in people who have 'been there and done that' so to speak. If you are about to become a first time divorcee or have been through the process before but want to do a better job, than I recommend coming to the Family Law Support Team's free seminar this month.

On the 25th of November my business - The Family Law Support Team - is holding another seminar, this time it is completely free. Showing up to one of these family law seminars is 'like getting punched in the face with a fist of knowledge' as I recently heard someone say.

If you can't make that then you can always book a free consultation with us. I read recently in the Metro that a lot of lawyers offer free consultations that end up entrapping potential clients and getting them hooked in. I can say with certainty that that kind of pressure does not exist in my business. The lawyers I use see many more people for free than those who end up retaining them. On top of that they are highly qualified and can demand from the market top dollar, so I am grateful they are giving back to the community through their involvement with the FLST.

When you come meet them, or hear them speak at our seminars, or work 1-on-1 in a workshop it will likely change your opinion of lawyers. The Canadian legal profession has taken a beating at times through books like lawyer's gone bad, which you can read an objective review of here: LAWYERS GONE BAD: MONEY, SEX AND MADNESS
IN CANADA’S LEGAL PROFESSION, by Philip
Slayton