What is the legal test for separation of property between a husband and wife?

The spouses could, alternatively, enter into a marriage contract to establish a regime of separation of property. Under this regime, there is no partition upon dissolution; spouses keep their respective patrimonies. Nonetheless, the consequences of the choice of the regime of separation of property, in a context in which wives were not engaged in remunerative activities outside the matrimonial home, could be devastating in the event of separation or divorce (Quebec v. A, at para. 61).

In 1981, the Quebec legislature undertook a major reform of family law, introducing the principle that spouses had equal rights and obligations in marriage. As LeBel J. observes: This principle of equality was reflected in, among other things, the spouses’ obligation to take in hand the moral and material direction of the family together and to choose the family residence together. Other new measures were adopted to ensure adherence to the principle of joint direction by requiring the consent of both spouses for certain acts, such as alienation of the family residence by the spouse who owned it. (Quebec v. A, at para. 69).