Can I ask for support for myself if we were not married?
Short answer
No. In Quebec, de facto spouses have no support obligation toward each other, and that remains true in a parental union: you cannot claim support for yourself after the separation. The obligation to pay support for the children, on the other hand, always exists.
In detail
This is one of the least well understood differences between marriage and de facto union in Quebec. Marriage and civil union create a support obligation between spouses, which can give rise to support for a former spouse. A de facto union does not — and the new parental union regime has not changed that.
What the parental union does add is other protections: division of the parental union patrimony, protection of the family residence, a right of inheritance where there is no will, and the possibility of claiming a prestation compensatoire (compensatory allowance). That last one is often confused with support: it is not the same thing. The compensatory allowance “is intended to financially compensate a spouse who became poorer after contributing to enriching the other spouse's patrimony, whether in property or in services”.
The ministère de la Justice (Quebec's justice department) gives the example of a spouse who left their job to look after the children and the household so that the other could grow their business. It also specifies that paying more of the family expenses than the other does not automatically give a right to a compensatory allowance: “the purpose of the compensatory allowance is not to equalize the spouses' patrimonies at the end of the union”.
What to document
If you are considering a compensatory allowance: the timeline of your contribution (dates you stopped working, unpaid leave, unpaid hours in the other's business), your records of employment and income tax returns before and after, and proof of the other's enrichment over the same period. This is a file built on dates and figures, not impressions.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
- Gouvernement du Québec — The parental union: frequently asked questions (official PDF)
- Gouvernement du Québec — Separation of couples in a de facto union
Related questions
- What happens to our property if we are neither married nor in a parental union?
- If I die without a will does my de facto spouse inherit?
- How does the court decide child custody in Quebec?
- At what age can a child decide which parent to live with?
- My child refuses to go to their other parent — can I keep them?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.