Common-Law Relationships in New Brunswick: Rights and Property

In New Brunswick, a common-law partner can qualify for spousal support, but only by meeting a specific dual test that combines cohabitation with either financial dependency or a shared child; property division and inheritance, by contrast, stay closed to unmarried couples entirely, with no length of cohabitation and no registration option opening either door.

Information last verified on 2026-08-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

New Brunswick Split Its Family Law Into Two Acts in 2020, and Only One Reaches Common-Law Partners

New Brunswick significantly rewrote its family law framework with the Family Law Act, S.N.B. 2020, c. 23, assented to on 18 December 2020. It is easy to assume this modernization extended common-law partners the same protections married spouses get across the board. It did not.

The 2020 Act replaced the old Family Services Act's support provisions and folded in parenting-related content, but it did not replace or absorb the Marital Property Act's property-division regime, which remains a separate, still-current statute. So New Brunswick now runs on two tracks: the Family Law Act covers support, parenting, and family-violence protection, and reaches common-law partners in a real way; the Marital Property Act covers property division, and does not reach them at all. For the general national picture, see our overview of common-law relationships across Canada.

"Spouse" and "Common-Law Partner" Are Kept Deliberately Separate

The Family Law Act's own definitions section keeps the two terms apart rather than folding cohabiting partners into an expanded "spouse" definition the way Ontario, Nova Scotia, and PEI do. Verified from section 1:

"'spouse' means either of two persons who (a) are married to each other, (b) are married to each other by a marriage that is voidable and has not been voided by a declaration of nullity, or (c) have gone through a form of marriage with each other in good faith that is void."

"'common-law partner' means a person who cohabits in a conjugal relationship with another person if the persons are not married to each other."

Because "common-law partner" is defined but kept separate from "spouse," support obligations for unmarried couples have to be extended by a distinct operative section, rather than arising automatically from the definition itself. That section is where New Brunswick's real, and unusually specific, test lives.

Spousal Support: A Dual Test, Verified Verbatim

Section 14 of the Family Law Act, headed "Support obligations of spouses and common-law partners," states:

"(1) Every spouse has an obligation to provide support for themselves and for their spouse... (2) The obligation to provide support in subsection (1) applies to common-law partners if (a) they have cohabited continuously for a period of not fewer than three years during which time one person has been substantially dependent on the other for support, or (b) they have cohabited in a situation of some permanence, if there is born a child of whom they are the parents."

This is worth reading carefully, because it is textually stricter than what most other provinces require. New Brunswick does not use a bare duration test like the "2 or 3 years and you qualify" rule found in Ontario or Nova Scotia. Instead:

• Gateway (a): three years of continuous cohabitation is not enough on its own; one partner must also have been substantially dependent on the other for support during that time.
• Gateway (b): a lower bar of cohabitation "in a situation of some permanence" is enough, but only if the couple has a child born of the relationship.

Whether courts have read "substantially dependent" narrowly or broadly was not researched for this article and is flagged as a genuine question a reader relying on gateway (a) should raise with a family law lawyer, since it is a real qualifying condition, not a formality. Once either gateway is met, the support analysis itself, amount and duration, proceeds the same way it does for married spouses. For how that generally works, see our guide to spousal support in Canada.

Property Division: A Documented Negative, at Any Duration

The Marital Property Act, R.S.N.B. 2012, c. 107, section 1, is unambiguous: "'spouse' means a married person." There is no cohabitation branch anywhere in the Act's definitions, and its substantive divisions, family assets, marital property, the equal-division presumption, and the marital-home protections, all run off that married-only spouse.

The Act does define a "domestic contract" mechanism that lets spouses vary the default division by agreement, but on inspection this is structured as an opt-out tool for married spouses, similar to a marriage contract, not an opt-in mechanism for unmarried couples. No language in the Act invites a common-law couple to subject themselves to the Marital Property Act's division scheme by agreement, and this was checked directly against the Act's definitions and division-mechanics sections (though Part 3's other sections were not reviewed line by line, so a narrow carve-out elsewhere cannot be fully ruled out).

A New Brunswick common-law partner therefore has no statutory right to equal division of property on separation, at any duration of cohabitation, with or without children. The remedies that remain are the same ones available nationally outside a formal matrimonial-property regime: a private cohabitation agreement, enforced as an ordinary contract, or a claim in unjust enrichment along the lines the Supreme Court of Canada set out in Kerr v. Baranow, 2011 SCC 10. See our guide to separation agreements in Canada for how a cohabitation agreement is typically structured.

If Your Partner Dies Without a Will: No Automatic Share, But a Real Backstop

The Devolution of Estates Act, R.S.N.B. 2012, c. D-9, writes its intestate-distribution rules entirely in terms of a surviving "widow" or "widower." Sections 22 to 24 give a share of the estate, including an interest in marital property and a portion of the residue, to "the widow," and section 36 applies the same rules to a man dying intestate by substituting "widower" for "widow." No common-law or cohabitation term appears anywhere in the Act. A New Brunswick common-law partner inherits nothing automatically under intestacy, regardless of relationship length or children, and unlike Nova Scotia, there is no registration route available at all to close that gap.

There is, however, a real backstop. The Provision for Dependants Act, R.S.N.B. 2012, c. 111, defines "dependant" as "(a) the spouse or child of the deceased, and (b) any other person who is, at the time of the deceased's death, a dependant of the deceased as defined in section 1 of the Family Law Act." Cross-referencing that back to the Family Law Act's own definition of dependant, a person to whom another has an obligation to provide support, means a common-law partner who satisfies the section 14(2) support-eligibility test described above (three years plus dependency, or permanence plus a shared child) can bring a claim for reasonable maintenance and support against the deceased partner's estate.

This is a genuine, sourced remedy, but it is a discretionary support-type claim the claimant has to prove, showing both dependency and inadequate provision, not an automatic ownership share of the estate the way a married widow or widower gets. See our guide to dying without a will in Canada for how intestacy generally works, and to making a will in Canada for why a will closes this gap outright.

(A note on citations here: an earlier, now-repealed version of the Provision for Dependants Act, cited as "P-22.3," cross-referenced the old Family Services Act rather than the current Family Law Act. That version was repealed on 1 March 2013. The current, correct citation is the R.S.N.B. 2012, c. 111 consolidation quoted above.)

No Registration Option, So Recognition Is Purely Fact-Based

Unlike Nova Scotia, New Brunswick has no domestic-partnership or civil-union registry for unmarried couples. Nothing in the Family Law Act, the Marital Property Act, or the province's vital statistics legislation offers that kind of opt-in mechanism. Recognition as a common-law partner in New Brunswick is entirely fact-based, turning on whether a couple actually meets the section 14(2) support test or, separately, whether family-violence protection applies (New Brunswick's family-violence provisions define "family member" broadly enough to cover a common-law partner, current or former, on the same footing as a spouse).

Federal Programs Use Different Rules Entirely

CPP survivor benefits and the CRA's 12-month common-law tax definition are federal rules that apply the same way in every province, including New Brunswick. They do not track the Family Law Act's three-year-plus-dependency or permanence-plus-child tests, and qualifying under one does not automatically qualify a couple under the other.

What New Brunswick Common-Law Couples Should Actually Do

• Do not assume years together creates a property claim. With no registration option and no cohabitation branch in the Marital Property Act, a written cohabitation agreement is the only way to set contractual property-division terms in advance.
• Make a will. Intestacy leaves a common-law partner with nothing automatically; a will is the direct fix, and the Provision for Dependants Act claim is a fallback that requires proving dependency, not a substitute for one.
• Understand the support test has teeth. If relying on the three-year gateway, be ready to show genuine financial dependency during that period, not just cohabitation; the "some permanence plus child" gateway is the more accessible route for couples with a shared child.

Married Spouses vs. Common-Law Partners in New Brunswick

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about New Brunswick family law and is not legal advice. Two items here carry a hedge worth noting: how New Brunswick courts have interpreted the section 14(2)(a) "substantially dependent" threshold was not researched for this article, and whether Part 3 of the Marital Property Act contains any narrow carve-out letting unmarried couples opt into its division scheme by agreement was checked against the Act's definitions and division-mechanics sections but not every individual section of that Part. Family law and estate outcomes depend on the specific facts of each relationship. Consult a licensed New Brunswick family law lawyer about your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do common-law partners in New Brunswick have the same property rights as married couples?

No. The Marital Property Act defines spouse as a married person only, with no cohabitation branch and no opt-in mechanism. A New Brunswick common-law partner has no automatic right to divide property when the relationship ends, at any duration of cohabitation. The available remedies are a cohabitation agreement or a claim in unjust enrichment.

How long do you have to live together to be common law in New Brunswick?

For spousal support, New Brunswick uses a dual test: 3 years of continuous cohabitation during which one partner was substantially dependent on the other, or cohabitation in a situation of some permanence if the couple has a child together. For property division, there is no cohabitation threshold that creates automatic rights, since the Marital Property Act does not reach unmarried couples at all.

What does substantially dependent mean for New Brunswick's 3-year support test?

The Family Law Act requires that one partner have been substantially dependent on the other for support during the 3-year cohabitation period; simply living together for 3 years is not enough on its own. How narrowly or broadly courts read this dependency requirement was not researched for this article, and is a genuine question to raise with a family law lawyer if you are relying on this gateway.

Does a common-law partner inherit automatically in New Brunswick if there is no will?

No. The Devolution of Estates Act's intestacy rules are written entirely around a surviving widow or widower, with no common-law or cohabitation term anywhere in the Act. A common-law partner who meets the Family Law Act's support-eligibility test can bring a discretionary dependants relief claim against the estate under the Provision for Dependants Act, but that is not an automatic inheritance share.

Can a New Brunswick common-law couple register their relationship the way they can in Nova Scotia?

No. New Brunswick has no domestic-partnership or civil-union registry for unmarried couples. Recognition is purely fact-based, turning on whether the couple meets the Family Law Act's support test.

Is New Brunswick's common-law rule the same as the CRA's definition for taxes?

No. The CRA generally treats a couple as common-law for federal tax purposes after 12 months of cohabitation, which is a separate federal rule that does not track New Brunswick's own 3-year-plus-dependency or permanence-plus-child tests.