Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick recently updated one of its most popular family law booklets. Formerly called, Living Together, the revised booklet has a new look and a new name – Living Common-Law.
This booklet discusses a variety of situations where legal rights and responsibilities might arise among couples living in a common-law relationship. While certain rights and obligations may be the same as legally married couples, such as the obligation to support children, others may differ. For example, when a common-law couple separates, they do not have the same automatic entitlement to equal division of property as provided to married couples under the Marital Property Act. Even the amount of time that a common-law couple must continuously live together to be eligible for a particular benefit, varies from one law to the next. Division of federal CCP credits on separation require one year of cohabitation, while common-law couples must live together for two years to be eligible to apply for a share of a provincial pension.
This new booklet is being distributed to libraries and community groups around the province. You can also view it on the PLEIS-NB or Family Law NB websites or order a copy by contacting us at pleisnb@web.ca.
