This blog post was written by: David Toledano, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Montreal
According to Statistics Canada[1], Quebec has the highest proportion of common-law couples in the country, nearly 43%, and with it one of the most persistent misconceptions in estate planning: that a surviving common-law partner will automatically inherit from a partner who dies without a Will (i.e. intestate).
This is the third article in our series on dying without a Will in Québec. Part 1 looked at what intestacy means for minor heirs, Part 2 at who settles the estate when no liquidator is named, and an earlier article covered the parental union regime itself. This article focuses on the person Quebec’s intestacy rules most often leave out: the surviving partner.
In Quebec, the legal consequences of dying intestate depend on whether the surviving partner qualifies as a spouse within the meaning of the Civil Code’s succession provisions. Historically, common-law partners were excluded from this category and therefore had no right to inherit in the absence of testamentary dispositions.
A recent legislative reform has modified this framework with the introduction of the parental union regime[2], which came into effect on June 30, 2025. The reform does not grant inheritance rights to all common-law partners. Instead, it creates a specific category of common-law partners who may benefit from the rules governing intestate succession.
A parental union forms automatically when de facto spouses or common-law partners become the parents of the same child (whether by birth or adoption) on or after June 30, 2025, or when the parents of the same child become or resume being de facto spouses. Article 521.20 of the Civil Code of Quebec sets out who qualifies as de facto spouses for this purpose, as discussed in our earlier article on the regime.
The regime is not retroactive. Couples who were already parents of the same child before June 30, 2025 are not in a parental union unless they opt in by notarial agreement or by private writing before two witnesses. For many long-standing common-law families, the reform changes nothing.
Once a parental union is established, the common-law partners acquire a legal status that is distinct from an ordinary de facto union. As a result of this reform, article 653 of the Civil Code of Quebec now places spouses in a parental union in the same class as married or civil union spouses for the purposes of intestate succession. A surviving spouse in a parental union may therefore inherit from a partner who dies without a Will.
The distinction is fundamental. Common-law partners who are not part of a parental union, including parents whose children were born before June 30, 2025 and who have not opted in, remain outside the class of legal heirs and are not entitled to inherit under intestacy. In such circumstances, the estate devolves exclusively to the deceased’s descendants or, failing descendants, to other relatives in accordance with the rules of legal devolution. The surviving partner receives nothing from the estate unless designated as a beneficiary under a valid Will.
By contrast, where the surviving partner qualifies as a spouse in a parental union, different rules apply. After any parental union patrimony is partitioned, the surviving partner shares the estate with the deceased’s descendants in the same proportions as a married or civil union spouse, as set out in Part 1.
Despite this significant reform, it is still inaccurate to assume that common-law partners generally enjoy inheritance rights in Quebec.
What the surviving partner can still receive outside the estate
Accordingly, estate planning remains essential for common-law couples. Although partners in a parental union now benefit from statutory succession rights, the distribution imposed by the rules of legal devolution may not correspond to the deceased’s wishes. For partners who are not in a parental union, the consequences can be even more severe, as the surviving partner may be entirely deprived of any interest in the estate. In either case, a properly drafted Will is the most effective means of ensuring that a partner’s wishes regarding the distribution of their estate are respected and that their surviving partner is adequately protected.
[1]State of the union: Canada leads the G7 with nearly one-quarter of couples living common law, driven by Quebec (July 13, 2022).
[2]An Act respecting family law reform and establishing the parental union regime, Bill 56 (2024, chapter 22).
