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