Marriage-like relationship, further guidance by the courts

Since the court’s discussion of what constitutes a “marriage-like relationship” found in Kiss v. Leung, 2024 BCSC 2335 (see C. Ryan Chan’s previous blog post, here), the BC Supreme Court has provided further guidance in their subsequent decisions.

As a starting point, for a party to prove that they were a spouse, it must be proven on the balance of probabilities that: 1) the parties cohabitated together for a continuous period of at least two years; and 2) the relationship during this time was marriage-like. The court considers numerous factors in determining if a relationship is marriage-like, however, none of these factors are determinative.  While there is no checklist, the courts will look for indicia consistent with a marriage-like relationship.  Some of these indicia were discussed the following cases.

In Ganjian v Roberts, 2025 BCSC 2406 the trial judge found that the parties did not qualify as spouses, as the parties cohabitated in a condo for a maximum of 1 year, 10 months, and 12 days, short of the 2-year requirement. The court also held that the relationship was not marriage-like because the parties were never engaged (and explicitly decided that they were not ready for marriage), they had no children, there were no long-term plans, there was no economic interdependence, there was no mutual intention to live as spouses, there were no professional or personal sacrifices made, and the boyfriend was not involved in preparing meals, housekeeping, or laundry.

In Riou v Marshall, 2025 BCSC 1684 the trial judge held that the parties qualified as spouses. One party’s resentment that she had financially supported the other party for a number of years and her dissatisfaction with their intimacy during their relationship did not retroactively change the nature of the relationship. The court factored in that the parties shared a bedroom, shared finances, presented to others as a couple, expressed affection for each other, celebrated holidays together, exchanged gifts, shared family time, raised children together, shared household responsibilities, did nice things for each other, and communicated frequently.

In Chan v Tran, 2025 BCSC 1308 the trial judge determined that the parties did not qualify as spouses. The parties’ relationship began in July 2013, and they separated in November 2019. However, they did not begin to live together as spouses until July 2019. While one party had a subjective intention for their relationship to be a permanent commitment, the intention was not shared by the other party for a continuous period of 2 years.

In Lister v Bal, 2025 BCSC 1261 the trial judge found that the parties did not qualify as spouses. They were in a marriage-like relationship for 18 months and then separated for about 10 months. The parties later reunited and began to live in a marriage-like relationship for another 22.5 months before separating for a second and final time. While the two periods of time exceeded 2 years combined, neither period lasted for a continuous 2-year period as required to make them spouses under the Family Law Act.

These cases illustrate the holistic approach the court takes when assessing whether or not a relationship is “marriage-like”.

If you have questions about family law matters, feel free to contact Jimmy Peterson or any other member of our Family Law Group. You may stay informed by exploring our recent blog posts here.