How Long Do You Have to Live Together to Be In a Common Law Relationship in Alberta?
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Jordan Lantz Associate -
Divorce Topic
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Published On
In Alberta, a common law relationship is called an Adult Interdependent Partnership (“AIP”), and it is defined by the Adult Interdependent Relationships Act (the “AIRA”).
The test for whether two people are AIPs is found in section 3 of the AIRA and is a nesting doll of cascading subsequent criteria for each portion of the test.
In most cases, to make a finding of whether two persons were AIPs, the Court will look at whether two persons
- (1) lived together, were
- (2) in a relationship of interdependence;
- (3) for not less than 3 years.
After two persons have been found to have lived together, and it has been found that they were in a relationship of interdependence, the Courts must look to the duration of that relationship.
After all, the 3-year examination is not solely about whether the parties cohabited for 3 years. Still, the question is whether their relationship created interdependence and how long that lasted.
Ultimately, the “continuous period of three years” part of the test is the temporal yardstick by which the Court can determine whether two persons lived together and were in a relationship of interdependence for the appropriate amount of time. Determining the start and end of the parties’ relationship is a factual, evidence-based analysis.
Parties can supply the Court with evidence of lease agreements, photographs of the parties together, communication between the parties evidencing an interdependent relationship, joint bank statements, or any other evidence showing that the parties were interdependent at a certain date.
Brief interruptions to the relationship may not count against the analysis for a continuous period of 3 years. The Courts have found that brief “cooling off periods” do not reset the clock of the 3-year requirement.
As with the first two blogs in this series, defining whether two persons are in an AIP relationship in Alberta requires a specific analysis of the relationship’s facts and the parties’ intentions.
You can read the first two blogs in our series on Common Law Relationships in Alberta here:
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