Common Law Rights Book Launched

Here's a recipe for a happy relationship: flowers, chocolate and agreement about legal and financial matters.

The Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia and the Senior Citizens' Secretariat combined these ingredients today, Feb. 11, at the launch of "And They Lived Happily Ever After...the rights and responsibilities of common law partners."

"Living common law has become more frequent in all age groups," said Doreen Paris, chair of the Advisory Council. "People making that choice need to think carefully and talk about what they expect from their relationships."

The publication was created in response to the many calls Nova Scotians, and particularly Nova Scotian women, made to the three sponsoring agencies.

"And They Lived Happily Ever After... gives common law partners information about rights and responsibilities in relationships so they can build strong, stable relationships," said Maria Franks, executive director, Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia. "It also lets couples know what their rights and responsibilities are if the relationship ends."

Nova Scotia's laws define the rights and responsibilities of married couples and of couples who register domestic partnerships. However, for partners living in a common law relationship, the law is not always as clear.

People at all stages of life choose to live in common law relationships, and Statistics Canada research shows they are choosing it more often. In the 1981 census, 5.6 per cent of families reported living common law. In 2001, that number had increased to 14 per cent.

"Common law living is a choice that seniors are making more and more often," said Valerie White, executive director of the Senior Citizens' Secretariat. "Senior citizens who live common law face the same issues as younger couples. They may also have concerns about inheritance and entitlement to pensions and other benefits."

Seniors who live common law may have been married before and had their relationships end in divorce or widowhood. They may choose to live common law because they want to preserve their estate for their children or they think they would lose certain benefits if they remarried.

People who choose to live together should discuss issues such as their expectations about sharing expenses and property. Senior couples need to talk about what they want to do about consent to medical care or about provision for the other partner if one dies.

For same-sex couples, the issues are more complicated because their registered domestic partnerships are not recognized by federal law. These couples need to think about the legal possibilities of all the situations that can arise over the life of their relationship, including the sharing of expenses and debts, household responsibilities, ownership of property, access to each other's employee benefits, responsibilities for children, consent to medical treatment, and drafting of wills.

Sometimes couples choose to live together to avoid what they see as the legal hassles of marriage. In fact, the legal hassles of living together can be even more complex if there is no clear agreement about the issues.

The Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Senior Citizens' Secretariat and the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia recommend that people considering living together or couples who already live common law talk about the legal and financial issues of the relationship. With legal advice, results of those conversations can be put in a cohabitation agreement.

Copies of the book are available from the offices of the advisory council, Senior Citizens' Secretariat and the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia and through public libraries across the province. It can also be downloaded from the websites of the three sponsoring agencies, at www.gov.ns.ca/staw/ ,www.gov.ns.ca/scs , and www.legalinfo.org .