Once upon a time, people could marry each other and create a legal relationship simply by agreeing to marry, without getting a licence from the government, the publishing of banns by the church, or having a particular kind of ceremony. Because the rights between the spouses came from principles established by the common law, these became known as common-law marriagesmon-law marriages were valid in England until the Marriage Act of 1753, better known by its full flowery name, An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage.

Normally I wouldn’t make a fuss about terminology like this, except that the phrase “common-law spouses” kind of suggests that there are certain rights and entitlements that a couple get from the operation of the common law, and this really isn’t the case and it hasn’t been the case for two-and-a-half centuries. What’s really important is whether people qualify as “spouses” – or as “common-law partners” or “adult interdependent partners” or whatever – under the particular law that they’re looking at.

There is no such thing as a “common-law spouse” or a “common-law marriage” in British Columbia. If you’re not married but you’re a “spouse,” it’s because of section 3 of the Family Law Act. Marriage and the legal requirements of marriage are discussed in the Married Spouses and the Law on Marriage section of this chapter.

Qualifying as an unmarried spouse

It’s usually pretty hard to argue that you’re not married if you’re a married spouse. You had a ceremony in front of a bunch of people, including at least two witnesses as required by section 9 of the provincial Marriage Act, and exchanged vows and rings. Even if you’ve lost your ring and hidden your marriage certificate, those witnesses will still be around to talk about your wedding. Lees verder →