Common-law couples with a child: what changed on 30 June 2025
For decades, the same sentence came up in lawyers’ offices: “We’ve been together fifteen years, surely I have rights.” The answer was no. In Quebec, the length of a relationship created no rights between common-law spouses, and many people learned that at the worst possible moment.
A new law has changed part of that. Only part.
Who is covered
Since 30 June 2025, common-law spouses who live together and become the parents of a shared child, born or adopted on or after that date, fall under the parental union regime. It is not a choice: it applies on its own.
Couples whose children were born before 30 June 2025 are not covered. They may opt in voluntarily, before a notary.
What the regime protects
It creates a parental union patrimony: a set of assets to be divided when the union ends, no matter which spouse owns them.
the family residences — house, condo, cottage;
the furniture in them that the family uses;
the vehicles used for family transportation.
The family residence also gets specific protection: during the union and for 120 days after separation, the spouse who owns it alone cannot sell it, or transfer the lease, without the other’s consent.
There is also the possibility of claiming a compensatory allowance where one spouse became poorer while enriching the other — by setting a career aside to raise the children, for instance.
What the regime does not protect
This is where expectations meet the law.
RRSPs, pension funds, inheritances and gifts are not part of the patrimony. They stay with whoever holds them. That is a major difference from the family patrimony of married couples.
There is still no spousal support between common-law spouses. The reform changed nothing on that point: a common-law spouse cannot claim support for themselves, even after twenty years together. Support for the children has always existed and has never depended on the parents’ status.
Death, without a will
A change few people know about: with no will, the surviving spouse in a parental union now receives one third of the estate, with the children sharing the other two thirds. Before, they received nothing.
That does not replace a will. One third may not be what you would have wanted — in either direction.
Opting out
Spouses can renounce the parental union patrimony, or remove specific assets from it, by notarial act. One nuance matters: if the renunciation is made within 90 days of the start of the union, no division takes place.
This is not something to sign lightly, or under pressure. It is a decision to make knowing exactly what is being given up.
What to check
Ask yourself three questions. Was your child born or adopted on or after 30 June 2025? Who owns the home, the furniture, the vehicles? And what would happen today, to the house and the savings, if one of you died or you separated?
If the answers do not suit you, they can be changed — but during the union, not after.
Sultan Avocat inc.
This text provides general information and is not legal advice. The parental union regime has exceptions and choices that depend on your situation. A meeting is the way to sort it out.
