I am in a relationship with my significant other who has…

I'm here, sorry for the delay. I'm not sitting in front of my computer solid all day, I'm up and down from my desk.

I am indeed a Canadian lawyer, I have over 10 years of practise experience in Ontario, primarily in family law.

Firstly, you should understand that commonlaw spouses don't have any automatic entitlement to an equal (or any) property division. Commonlaw spouses can go to family court and ask a judge to divide their property according to what the judge thinks is fair.

The second thing is that the only value of property that is divisible is that which was accumulated during the relationship. That's the "net family property". When you separate, add up the value of everything that the couple has, and subtract what they brought in, that's what they've accumulated. When married, that amount is equally divisible (with some complicated exceptions). Commonlaw spouses, if they are together for a long time (say, over 10 years) will have it treated similarly by a judge depending on who contributed what and when.

That may seem like a lot of legal mumbo jumbo. I'll illustrate with a ridiculous example. Let's say that I have a million dollars in the bank, and no other assets or debt, and you and I get together and you have no income or assets. We split up, and when we do I still have a million dollars but you have a hundred dollars. If we're married, the net family property is a hundred dollars and since you have it all you owe me fifty dollars. If we're not married, I can take you to court for a share of that hundred and it's up to the judge how much I get.

One obvious point is that the value of whatever you bring into the cohabitation relationship remains yours. So you needn't worry about losing what you brought in.

However, if you're together long term, the growth of your investments and assets will be part of the family property.

The best way to protect yourself is to get a cohabitation agreement signed up, preferably after you've consulted with a lawyer to help you draft it up. It can establish what property and debts you each have, and that it will remain yours, and how you will each pay for your living costs, and what gets divided and how when you separate.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, please reply.

Good luck
Ulysses

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