Do common-law spouses have the same property rights as married spouses in BC?
Largely yes. Under BC's Family Law Act, people who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two continuous years are spouses, and the same family-property and family-debt rules apply to them as to married couples. The differences are the two-year threshold, a limitation period that runs from separation rather than divorce, and that the federal Divorce Act does not apply.
Who counts as a spouse
For property division, a person is a spouse if married, or if they have lived with the other person in a marriage-like relationship for a continuous period of at least two years. Having a child together makes a couple spouses for support purposes, but not for property division. The relationship begins on the earlier of the date the couple began living together in a marriage-like relationship and the date of marriage, which matters because property owned before that date is excluded.
The same rules
Once the two-year mark is passed, equal entitlement to family property, the list of excluded property, the sharing of growth in excluded property's value, and the power to divide unequally where equal division would be significantly unfair all apply exactly as they do to married spouses.
Separation
There is no document or filing that makes a couple separated. Separation is a fact, shown by one spouse telling the other that the relationship is over for good, or by conduct that shows it. Spouses can be separated while still living under the same roof. The date matters: it fixes what is family property and starts the two-year limitation period for unmarried spouses.
What is different
An unmarried spouse must start a property or spousal support claim within two years of separation; a married spouse has two years from the divorce order. The Divorce Act applies only to married spouses, so an unmarried spouse's support and parenting claims proceed under the Family Law Act alone. There is no divorce to obtain, and the relationship's end has no court process of its own.
The law
Each link opens the section itself on BC Laws or Justice Laws. Checked on November 9, 2026.
- Family Law Act, SBC 2011, c 25, s 3 — who is a spouse, when the relationship begins, and separation under one roof
- Family Law Act, s 81 — equal entitlement to family property
- Family Law Act, s 84 — family property
- Family Law Act, s 85 — excluded property
- Family Law Act, s 198 — two years from separation for unmarried spouses
People also ask
- When do the two years start?
- From the date the couple began living together in a marriage-like relationship, which is a question of fact about the relationship, not only about addresses. Where it is disputed, evidence of shared finances, how the couple presented themselves to others, and their intentions all matter.
- Does a cohabitation agreement change this?
- Yes. Spouses can agree in advance how property will be divided if they separate, and the Act respects such an agreement unless a court sets it aside on the grounds it allows, such as non-disclosure or significant unfairness.
Read more
General information about the law in British Columbia, not legal advice. Laws change and every situation differs; speak to a lawyer before acting on anything here.