I want to know what rights do I have under a 6 years common…

Hello:


Couples who have been living together for at least two years as spouses share the same legal rights as legally married couples, including a 50/50 split of shared debts and assets, excluding pre-relationship property, inheritances and gifts. So you will have a right to an equal division of any property that has been acquired in your relationship together or increase in the value of property. It would not matter if the property is owned only in your spouse 's name.

You could also claim spousal support from him. This is not automatic but can be ordered if you can show you have been supported by him and you have a present financial inability to support yourself.


The court will not have authority to divide property other than that which is located in the province. The court can take into account property that is located outside of the province, and divide property that is located in the province unequally. So in this way the court can try to even the scales if there is a large amount of property that one person owns outside of the country, by then allowing the other person to retain more of the property that is located here.

The court can order a payment of spousal support but that could be very difficult to enforce, as enforcement would have to take place likely where he is located and earning income. So you may need to consult with a lawyer in Vietnam as to how any Canadian court order for support can be enforced against him. It met also be possible to enforce that against any assets hat he still owns within the province.

The court will not look at the reasons for the break up. The fact that he had an affair would not entitle to you to any different division of property or spousal support.

A lawyer is not mandatory for this but the law and procedure involved is not simple and an experienced lawyer will be very useful. We are not allowed to refer you to specific lawyers here due to site policies. But the BC branch of the Canadian Bar Association has a free referral service and they have information on that at their web site.

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