BC Guide

Am I common law in BC?

That's the whole rule. You don't sign anything. You don't register anywhere. Nobody sends you a letter. One day you pass the two-year mark, and the law starts treating you like a married couple.

What the law actually calls you

Most people say "common law." BC's Family Law Act uses a different word: spouse.

That's the part that surprises people. In BC, a couple who lived together two years and a couple who got married are treated almost the same way when it comes to property and support.

What changes at two years

Three things, mainly:

• Property gets divided. Anything you built up together during the relationship is normally split down the middle if you break up.
• Spousal support becomes possible. One of you may have to pay the other monthly support.
• Your "own" stuff isn't fully your own. More on this below — it's the one that costs people the most money.

The part nobody expects

Say you owned a condo before you met. That condo is called excluded property. You keep it. Good so far.

But here's the catch: any increase in its value during the relationship is shared.

So if your condo was worth $600,000 when you moved in together and $900,000 when you split up, that $300,000 of growth is normally divided. You keep the original $600,000. The $300,000 is on the table.

In BC real estate, that growth is often the biggest number in the room. The same idea applies to a business you own, or investments, or a down payment your parents gave you.

What “marriage-like” means

There's no checklist. A judge looks at the whole picture — do you share money, live as a couple, tell people you're together, plan a future. Roommates who split rent are not spouses. A couple who lives together and shares a life is.

Being unsure is normal. Plenty of couples only find out where they stand when the relationship ends, which is the worst possible time to find out.

Quick answers to the usual questions

• Is it one year in BC? No. One year is the rule for some other things, like immigration. For property and support in BC, it's two.
• Do we have to register? No. It happens automatically.
• Does a lease or shared bills make it official? No single document decides it. It's the overall relationship.
• Do we have to live together the whole two years? Short breaks usually don't reset the clock. Long ones might.
• Are we married now? No. You're not married. You're just treated like spouses for property and support.

Can you opt out?

Yes — and that's the only real answer here.

BC lets couples write their own rules instead of using the default ones. That document is called a cohabitation agreement (or a marriage agreement, or a prenup — the names all mean roughly the same thing).

You can decide what stays separate, what gets shared, and what happens to the growth on the home. You can sign it before the two years, after the two years, or years into living together. Earlier is simpler, but it's rarely too late.

This page is general information about BC law, not legal advice for your situation. Every couple's facts are different. For advice you can rely on, talk to a lawyer — that's what the free call is for.