I am needing some legal advice on Ontario law regarding common law break-ups. Can you help?
Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at
1:48 am
If a man buys a house in Ontario, and his common law girlfriend moves in with him for four years… Does she have the legal ability to take the house from him after a break up?
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Tagged with: Break Ups • Legal Ability • Ontario Law
Filed under: House Law
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You probably need to consult a lawyer. Before she does.
It’s possible. The woman can seek what’s called a ‘constructive trust’, meaning that even though the title is in the man’s name, the court would declare that the woman holds the entitlement to all the benefits of ownership of the property – in effect, that the house is hers.
A constructive trust is more likely to be awarded when the man has received some sort of material benefit by the wife’s occupation of the house; for example, in the landmark case that established constructive trusts for Ontario law, the couple had lived as common-law spouses for many years, and the wife had stayed at home raising (among others) the husband’s children from a previous relationship, while the husband went out and worked a lucrative job. The wife also engaged in landscaping and renovation tasks, adding to the value of the property. On top of all that, the husband was abusive.
So is it possible? Yes, absolutely. Is it likely? It depends very much on the facts. Talk to a family lawyer.