Hello,

I having been living with a girl for 10 1/2 months now in Ontario. When she moved in I had her sign a full cohabitation agreement (so she would not get property that I owned or any support payments of any kind) properly witnessed and drawn up by a lawyer.

We just ended our realationship and she claims that in Ontario she is common law after 6 months and the cohab agreement is not valid either because she wavied her right to use a lawyer of own at the time she signed the agreement.

She is not looking for property or support but claims she will stay with me for 3-4 months or she will try to make things messy for me in court.

She has a 19 year daughter lving with us and a 17 year son living elsewhere. I have no kids.

Do I have to worry about this or does she have anything that I do not know about?

I would like to have her leave within a month or so.

THanks

M A

I don't know which the law would look at more that you had her sign the agreement or what ever your country goes by but I would say that if she/you have proof that she waived her rights rather than just not having her own lawyer that that shows she did it with full understanding of what she was signing rather than signing it not knowing her rights.
Your lawyer should have told you if she could pull something like this but he may not have been thinking of it.
I would ask your lawyer.

It may be less hassle if you just let her stay the extra months.

Also you just need to get the simple question answered as to what is common law marriage in your area. Most times its much more then 6 months. More like years.

Come to think of it I don't think she would have the same rights as if you were in a marriage and going through a divorce anyway
I think to get her out you would have to go through the process of an eviction notice.
You can't just tell her to leave.
She may know this and stay until you press the issue and THEN tell you to evict her
Then she has about another whole month
Beat her to the punch and see if a legal eviction would be the thing to do in your case.

[QUOTE=greeneyecandy]Hello,

I having been living with a girl for 10 1/2 months now in Ontario. When she moved in I had her sign a full cohabitation agreement (so she would not get property that I owned or any support payments of any kind) properly witnessed and drawn up by a lawyer.

We just ended our realationship and she claims that in Ontario she is common law after 6 months and the cohab agreement is not valid either because she wavied her right to use a lawyer of own at the time she signed the agreement.

She is not looking for property or support but claims she will stay with me for 3-4 months or she will try to make things messy for me in court.

She has a 19 year daughter lving with us and a 17 year son living elsewhere. I have no kids.

Do I have to worry about this or does she have anything that I do not know about?

I would like to have her leave within a month or so.


Only your Attorney can address the validity of the agreement.

The law in Ontario concerning common law is:

"In Canada, the legal definition and regulation of common law marriage fall under provincial jurisdiction. A couple must meet the requirements of their province's Marriage Act for their common-law marriage to be legally recognized.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency, as of 2007, a common-law relationship is true if:

a) the couple have been living in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 continuous months;

b) the couple are parents of a child by birth or adoption; or

c) one of the couple has custody and control of the child (or had custody and control immediately before the child turned 19 years of age) and the child is wholly dependent on that person for support.

For a full, up to date CRA description go here: Marital Status

In many cases common law couples have the same rights as married couples under federal law. Various federal laws include "common-law status," which automatically takes effect once two people (of any gender) have lived together in a conjugal relationship for five full years. Common-law partners may be eligible for various federal government spousal benefits. As family law varies between provinces, there are differences between the provinces regarding the recognition of common-law marriage."