Common-Law (Adult Interdependent Partner) Separation in Alberta
Common-law separation in Alberta is the end of a relationship the law deals with under a different name: the legal status is adult interdependent partner, and common-law is the everyday word for it. Whether you hold that status decides which claims you can bring, so a Calgary family lawyer establishes it first.
Are You an Adult Interdependent Partner?
Adult interdependent partner is a status set by Alberta law, not a description a couple picks for itself. A person reaches the status by one of three routes.
Three continuous years. Living with the other person in a relationship of interdependence for a continuous period of not less than three years.
A child together. Living with the other person in a relationship of interdependence of some permanence, where there is a child of the relationship by birth or adoption.
An agreement. Entering into an adult interdependent partner agreement with the other person.
A relationship of interdependence has its own meaning in the Act. It is a relationship outside marriage in which two people share one another's lives, are emotionally committed to one another, and function as an economic and domestic unit.
Whether two people function as an economic and domestic unit is decided on all the circumstances of the relationship. The Act lists matters that may be relevant:
- Whether the relationship is a conjugal one.
- How exclusive it is.
- How the two of you conduct household activities and living arrangements.
- How far you hold yourselves out to others as an economic and domestic unit.
- How far you have formalised your legal obligations, intentions and responsibilities to one another.
- What each of you has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the other or to your mutual well-being.
- How financially dependent or interdependent you are, and what arrangements you have for financial support.
- The care and support of children.
- The ownership, use and acquisition of property.
That list is not a checklist and not a score: the Act requires all the circumstances to be taken into account and names these only as matters that may be relevant, so no single one settles the question.
Some people cannot hold the status, or cannot reach it by living together. People related to each other by blood or adoption can become adult interdependent partners only by entering into an agreement. The relationship does not exist where one person provides the other with domestic support and personal care for a fee or other consideration, or on behalf of an organisation including a government. A person can have only one adult interdependent partner at a time. And a married person cannot become an adult interdependent partner while living with their spouse.
In a court proceeding, the person who says the relationship exists or existed is the person who has to prove it.
Whether the status exists depends on the statutory conditions and all relevant circumstances, rather than a label the couple chooses.
What Changed on 1 January 2020
Before 2020, property claims between unmarried partners ran through other routes. From 1 January 2020 the renamed and amended Family Property Act applies to adult interdependent partners.
On 1 January 2020 the Matrimonial Property Act was renamed the Family Property Act and amended, and the rules it already carried were carried forward rather than begun again. What it now provides for a partner is the ability to apply for a family property order.
A limit runs on that application. The Family Property Act sets a two-year limit on the applications the provision covers, running from when the applicant first knew, or should have known, that they had become a former adult interdependent partner.
Which applications the provision covers is a question to put to a lawyer, and so is which limit applies to the claim you want to bring.
Where the claim concerns property that has been transferred or given away, a shorter limit can apply, which is another reason to ask early rather than to assume you have the longer period.
Whether any period applies to a married spouse's claim is a separate question.
Missing a limit can affect whether a claim can be brought at all, which is why this is worth acting on first.
Property, Support and Parenting After a Separation
What you are entitled to depends on your status and on which claim you are making. Property, support and parenting are three separate questions, and each is decided under its own rules.
Property. The Family Property Act applies to adult interdependent partners, and a partner may apply for a family property order under it. Family property division in Alberta covers what is divided, what is exempt and how the family home is dealt with.
Support. Partner support exists under the Family Law Act (Alberta) for a person who is or was an adult interdependent partner. How a claim would be approached is a question for a lawyer. Spousal support in Alberta covers who may be entitled to it and how amount and duration are approached.
Parenting. Decisions about children do not depend on the parents' marital status. Parenting time and decision-making responsibility are dealt with under the parenting rules in the Family Law Act (Alberta), and parenting, decision-making and child custody are decided on the child's circumstances rather than on the label the parents' relationship carried.
Partners who are together can set terms in advance in cohabitation agreements, and partners who are separating can put agreed terms into a separation agreement.
How a Lawyer Helps on a Common-Law Separation
These are the categories of work a separation between adult interdependent partners involves, not a fixed sequence.
- 1
Establishing status. Working out whether the status applies and when it came to an end.
- 2
Disclosure. Obtaining the financial disclosure a property or support claim runs on.
- 3
Property claims and the limit. Identifying what may be claimed and acting before a limit passes.
- 4
Support. Advising on a partner support claim and negotiating it.
- 5
A parenting plan. Agreeing parenting time and decision-making responsibility, or applying to the Court of King's Bench of Alberta or the Alberta Court of Justice.
- 6
An agreement. Putting agreed terms into a written agreement.
A family lawyer in Calgary does that work in negotiation and in court.
Why THEBIL Law
Nne Christiana Udo is the family lawyer at THEBIL Law and a member of the Law Society of Alberta. She advises and represents adult interdependent partners in Alberta family law matters, in negotiation and in court.
THEBIL Law had 87 Google reviews when the count was read on September 21, 2026.
The office serves Calgary and surrounding areas from 5920 Macleod Trl SW Ste 720, Calgary, AB T2H 0K1, Canada.
Frequently Asked Questions
A person can become an adult interdependent partner by living with another person in a relationship of interdependence of some permanence where there is a child of the relationship by birth or adoption. This is a separate statutory route, not a shortened three-year period.
A lawyer can advise which claims and deadlines apply to your relationship and circumstances.
In practice you establish whether the adult interdependent partner status applied and when it came to an end, exchange financial disclosure, deal with property, support and any parenting arrangements, and put agreed terms into a written agreement. A two-year limit applies to the applications the provision covers, so the timing matters.
Half the house is not the test. What matters in Alberta is whether the other person is or was an adult interdependent partner, and then how the Family Property Act deals with the property in issue. A partner may apply for a family property order, which is an application and not an automatic half share.
Book a Consultation With a Calgary Family Lawyer
Contact THEBIL Law to discuss a common-law separation and the questions you want to address, including whether you hold the status of adult interdependent partner.
What a separation matter costs depends on how much is in dispute and whether a court application is needed. To ask about your own situation, including the retainer, send a consultation request at any time or call 403-457-3128 during office hours. The office makes contact to arrange a meeting. Consultations at THEBIL Law are paid consultations. The charge is confirmed with you before the meeting and paid in advance.