What is the test for determining when a common-law couple have separated?

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada


The following excerpt is from SS v. BH, 2019 NLSC 110 (CanLII):

In Field v. McLaren, 2009 MBQB 118, the court considered the separation date of a common-law couple for the purposes of property division. The court concluded that the intention of one party to separate might be sufficient to sever the relationship. There must be evidence that the separating party communicated this intention to the other party and acted upon the intention.

Furthermore, in Gibbons v. Kowal, 2006 MBQB 11, the court stated that a conjugal relationship ends when either party regards it as being at an end and, by his or her conduct, demonstrates in a convincing manner that this particular state of mind is a settled one.

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