Common Law Marriage Report: Canadian Legal Framework and Case Studies

This report delves into the concept of common law marriage within the Canadian legal framework. It begins by defining common law marriage, emphasizing the requirement of cohabitation and a conjugal relationship for a specified period, typically one year, as established by case law and legislation like the Common-Law Partners Property and Related Amendments Act, 2001. The report distinguishes common law marriage from ceremonial marriages, highlighting that while a marriage certificate is absent, the legal obligations and rights are largely equivalent, as affirmed in cases like Québec (Attorney General) v. A 2013 SCC 5 (Eric v. Lola). The report also addresses potential societal misinterpretations and the importance of fulfilling marital responsibilities within common law unions. The document concludes that common law marriage in Canada is a legally recognized and binding form of marriage, offering similar legal protections and obligations as traditional marriages, despite the absence of a formal marriage certificate.

Running head: COMMON LAW MARRIAGE
Common Law Marriage
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1COMMON LAW MARRIAGE
Marriage is a religious as well as a legal institution in Canada. From 1990s this
Common Law Marriage has been used in different parts of Canada to describe the domestic
relationship between the partners. In Canada Common Law Marriage means that the couple
must have lived together for at least one year. There must have been a conjugal relationship
between the couple for at least one year. This also means that there must be some evidence
that the couple have lived together for at least one year. These kinds of relationships are
basically de facto relationships which means that this relationship is totally based on facts and
evidences.
In Canada, Common Law Marriage is commonly known as marriage by habitat and
repute or informal marriage or Sui Iuris. Common Law Marriage is a kind of de facto
marriage in Canada. (Oldham 2018). This type of marriage basically means that a couple is
legally married and they don’t need any official marriage certificate. Though the official
marriage certificate is not needed in this kind of marriage but that does not affect its
authentication. This kind of marriage is legally binding in the same way as any other
ceremonial marriage. There are certain essentials of this Common Law Marriage, which
distinguishes it from any other marriage. Common Law Marriage is different from any other
marriage as this kind of marriage is not governmentally licensed. There is no Marriage
Certificate in Common Law Marriages therefore no public record of the marriage is present.
Though cohabitation is not only the single factor of this marriage but the couple in this case
as to express themselves as husband and wife in front of the whole world for at least one
year. This kind of marriage can only be dissolved by proper legal divorce proceedings. These
kinds of marriages in Canada are often misinterpreted with live in relationships or conjugal
unison (Matulewska,2017).The rights and responsibilities which comes with the Common
Law Marriage are somewhat same as any other regular marriages. The Supreme Court in

2COMMON LAW MARRIAGE
Québec (Attorney General) v. A 2013 SCC 5 (also known as Eric v. Lola) case in the year
2013 stated the rights for the couples in a Common law Marriage.
Thus, to conclude with this topic it can be stated that the Common Law Marriage in
Canada is a legally acceptable one in Canada but it is often misinterpreted. But often these
kind of marriages does not abide by actual union of the husband and wife. Sometimes the
responsibilities are not fulfilled in these kinds of marriages and thus the society fails to accept
these kinds of marriages according to the Common-Law Partners Property and Related
Amendments Act, 2001. This Common Law Marriage is a valid one as it fulfils all the
essentials of a valid regular marriage only without the marriage certificate and it also legally
binds both the parties. This kind of marriage is just like a marriage which is done by a
ceremony and is totally a valid and acceptable one.

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References
Matulewska, A. (2017). Socially induced changes in legal terminology. Studies in logic,
grammar and rhetoric, 49(1), 153-173.
Oldham, J. T. (2018). Divorce, Separation and the Distribution of Property. Law Journal
Press.
Quebec (Eric v Lola) (Attorney General) v. A 2013 SCC 5
The Common-Law Partners Property and Related Amendments Act, 2001