Does the term “common-law” in paragraph 3 of the Marriage Agreement apply to a common-law relationship?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Campbell v. Campbell, 2011 BCSC 1491 (CanLII):
As I noted above, paragraph 3 of the Marriage Agreement states that the Agreement takes effect when the parties get married or determine to live in a common-law relationship. The term “common-law relationship” is not defined in the Marriage Agreement. Given the submissions of the parties and authorities cited by them at trial, it is, in my view, clear that the parties treated the term “common-law” as being synonymous with “marriage-like”. In support of this view, as our Court of Appeal in Stace-Smith v. Lecompte, 2011 BCCA 129 at para. 10, 16 B.C.L.R. (5th) 119, alluded to, using the words “common-law” to describe one’s relationship is not determinative if the evidence suggests that the parties intended “marriage-like”.
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